My Kamen Rider Academia
by Ten-Faced Paladin
Summary: In a world of Quirks and superheros, can one person with a belt and a desire truly stand out. Joseph Josuke, a young man out of his element in a world where everyone is super, must stand up and face a threat which could bring down such a structured society of Heroes and Villains. His Kamen Rider Academia begins now!
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Kamen Rider Build or My Hero Academia.**

**My Kamen Rider Academia**

**Chapter 1: A Quirkless can be a Hero!**

**Musutafu, Japan**

"Halt, vigilante!"

"This sucks! My first day and it's me being chased by the cops!."

The city seemed entirely ordinary, perfectly suited for modern day Japan. It even had a nicer road with calm people walking and going about their business. Stores were giving sales and business was being done. All in all, it seemed like just another day in a bustling Japanese city situated somewhere near Tokyo.

Unless you dismissed the fact many of the people walking around had odd features. Horns, colored skin, extra limbs, animal limbs, things like that.

And the young man being chased by a police officer who seemed to have a pair of handcuffs growing from his arms.

…

Perhaps looking back earlier in time will answer some questions.

Earlier That Day…

"Now entering Musutafu Station. Please watch your step."

The train came to a stop before the doors opened, allowing the commuters to enter or exit in the course of their days. Among them was a young man in his high school years. He wore jeans and a red shirt with a denim jacket. He was of slightly above average height compared to the other people with dark red hair which was cut short, sorting long bangs which framed his face and a short ponytail which reached the base of his neck. His eyes were heterochromatic, one an almond brown while the other was bright blue.

His features almost matched the kinds of the Japanese folk around him, save for his cheekbones and the shape of his eyes. It hinted at a mixed ancestry, although with the kinds of people who were surrounding him, he literally did not stand out.

He stepped off the train, a pack hefted over his shoulder, eyes constantly wandering to the people around him. He had good reason, as he was spotting people with extra arms, wings, anima parts, some looking like they were slimes, although for the most part the people looked ordinary, the number of exotic folks walking around made him feel absolutely plain for one of the first times in his life.

"Well...I guess I did ask to be taken to a new world...wow." he commented to himself as he headed for the exit.

His name was Joseph Josuke, or JJ to his friends. If his name alone wasn't an indication, he was half-American, a father who came to Japan and fell in love with the place along with his mother and both decided to settle down. Joseph was the proof of the union.

Truthfully, Joseph wasn't a native to the world he was currently in. It was similar, save for the fact no one had the extra features he was seeing in the other people. Because of that, the exotic features of so many was causing him some serious culture shock even if the actual culture was not all that different from the one he came from.

Still, it begged the question of how Joseph got to a new world. Was he some genius who built a portal? Was he a hapless individual who just found himself summoned to this new world? Was he secretly an alien who traveled from one world to the next?

No, he was just a bit of a hero geek who decided to debunk an urban legend and found out it was real.

Joseph lived in Tokyo back in his world and had always been a hero nerd since he got into his dad's comic book collection at a young age. Superman, Batman, Spider-man, Wolverine, all of them were his childhood idols. Of course, he was also enamoured with Japan's national heroes the Kamen Riders. It led him to joining a club in his neighbourhood once he got into high school.

His home town also had a weird legend about it. Apparently, a group of young men with Kamen Rider toys went to a museum and somehow became the real thing. There was even news photage to prove it. The legend that sprung up after that was if someone with a heartfelt desire to change the world entered the museum and with Rider gear of their own, they would be sent to a world where their wish would come true.

Joseph didn't really believe it himself, being a more science and math type of person despite his love of comic heroes. Still, his club members dared him to do it when conversation turned to the legend and he got tired of them being too afraid to try it, fearing they would end up in a horror anime world.

So he and his fellow club members chipped in cash to buy a BuildDriver and some FullBottles from the Kamen Rider Build series. Joseph's dare was to enter the museum, visit every exhibit and state his most heartfelt wish out loud while wearing it. If he got through all the exhibits, texting pictures to prove he went to each one, or until closing time, then he could keep it. If he chickened out the club got it for their next convention.

The museum was doing a history of comics exhibit for some event to get people to visit, so Joseph didn't mind going. So he strapped the device to his waist and brazenly walked into the museum, getting a suffering sigh from an older desk attendant who likely saw similar people too many times, before he set off for the exhibit in question.

It was a very nice, although small, exhibit about how comics were developed, the censorship that came with it, but also some fun timelines of how some American and Japanese superheroes got their start and how they evolved over the years.

It was fun, but he had a bet to win. So he took a selfie of himself in the middle of the exhibit before he looked to the display of Superman and Kamen Rider Ichigo. Grinning, he made his wish.

"I wish to be a hero and save people like my idols."

To his surprise, he got an answer.

"Well, with such a spirit suited for the task, I know just the place."

Joseph turned around and saw a main with braids wearing a pink suit smiling at him. The man snapped his fingers, and Joseph found himself on the train with his gear and the unusual people around him.

Coming out of the train station, Joseph looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, aside from the folks who had the extra body features.

"Man, well, at least no one can give me crap for being half western," Joseph chuckled to himself. The Japenese were well-known for their sense of civility and manners, but there were always bad apples who didn't like foreigners or people who stood out everywhere in the world. With his hair and ancestry, Joseph attracted both.

Walking by an electronics shop, he stopped to see what was playing on the televisions. It turned out to be a news broadcast about events during the day.

"There was another villain attack today which cut off traffic this morning," the news lady spoke, showing clips of some giant. "Traffic was held back for a while as a purse thief used his size-related Quirk when cornered by local heroes. Swift action by Death Arms and Backdraft ensured no civilians were hurt while the new heroes Kamui Woods and Mount Lady managed to defeat and detain the villain."

Joseph stopped as he watched what looked like a television hero show of some kind where a man in a dark blue jumpsuit with wood armor and...wooden arms was fighting some giant man dressed like a thug before an equally giant and shapely woman came down out of nowhere and brought him down.

"Oh wow," Joseph blinked, stepping closer to the screens. "That's...really good effects. Didn't know Japan was working to emulate Marvel and DC." he watched replays of the fight as the wooden hero, Kamui Woods, was jumping all over the place, growing detaining tree roots. "Wow. Kind of like a wooden Spider-Man. Nice one. Get a good backstory and maybe he could really take off."

The scene changed to Mount Lady, who admittedly looked devastatingly hot, and how she was posing and amping up the sex appeal of her costume made herself appear more so, "Hm. Powers are cool, like Giganta, but she needs to lay off just sex appeal and focus on hero stuff or else she's going to be relegated to just a pretty face to be a minor character next to the big name heroes. Maybe if she's got a nice backstory or even just a good character arc it can make or break her."

Considering the oddities he saw around him, some would say Joseph should have taken the sight of live action superheroes a bit more seriously. He may have, if the heroes in the clips didn't seem like they were hamming it up for the crowds. Mount Lady was of course posing sexily for attention. Then while kamui Woods was fighting seriously, his dramatic declaration of the thug being 'all that is evil' and shouting the name of his interrupted attack, just made him seem like a ham as well. It made Joseph dismiss the clips as part of a show before he moved on.

"Kinda funny how it made it look like they were competing for attention," he chuckled to himself. He was sure he saw that smug grin on Mount Lady's face while Kamui Woods was slumped in depression in the background.

Continuing to walk, Joseph scratched his head as he wondered what he was going to do. He had some cash on him, maybe enough for a hotel room for one night. Unless he had a counterpart in this world whose life he could take over, he didn't think he'd have access to funds or other things like that. It was a drawback he was quickly learning to end up in a modern world instead of someplace high fantasy. Couldn't quite get odd jobs if he didn't have ID now could he?

He came to a busy intersection, watching people go about their day despite the uniqueness around them. He was getting used to it, but he had to admit it was really cool to see people who could fly, use psychic powers, and even run superspeed as he witnessed a jaywalker dart around cars. People yelling at him about using his 'Quirk' in public was a little odd, but whatever.

The lights changed and Joseph continued on, pondering his options. In the middle of the street, everything suddenly, and violently, came to a halt when something came crashing down in the middle of the intersection, causing screams of shock and cars to swerve out of the way from the sudden impact. Joseph, like many others, had to stop and gape at what had just happened. Was it a meteor? Some kind of falling object? Just what the heck happened?

The creature that came out was a humanoid, but it was covered in metallic armor which made it look more like a machine than a person. The bottom half was black, the top half being white with blue spikes rising from the shoulder and head. The armor itself looked a lot like metallic geometric plates, making it seem almost like one of those cubic art pieces except it was snarling and twitching like a caged animal that just broke free.

"What is that?"

"Some kind of new villain?"

"Someone call a Pro Hero!"

"Never seen that one before."

"Is that a costume or a Quirk? I can't tell."

The humanoid creature let off a snarl and then roared. Its spikes extended from its body, piercing the cars around it and tearing more gouges out of the road. Curiosity was replaced with terror as the civilians realized the creature was starting to attack them, forcing them to begin running away in a panic.

Joseph didn't move, jostled slightly by the panicking people as he continued to gape at the creature. Not in horror at what it was doing, not entirely. No, his shock was coming from how he was able to recognize the creature.

As a Kamen Rider fan, he had binged the Heisei Era series ever since he discovered it. He knew the kaijin the Riders fought. The creature in front of him was one he easily recognized as a Smash, the creatures from Kamen Rider Build. They were people who were injected or willingly bathed in Nebula Gas, a space-based compound, which transformed them into bio-mechanical monsters who unless having some kind of control, were rampaging monsters who destroyed everything they found. Thus why they were called Smash. If Joseph wasn't mistaken, he was looking at the Needle Smash.

As people continued to run, Joseph pinched his own cheek. Feeling the pain, but the vision remained the same, he trembled.

"Y-yup, that's a Smash." He backed away a few steps as the Needle Smash took interest in a car and began stabbing it repeatedly for being in its way. He backed into a guardrail, feeling something in his pack jab into his back. It served to remind him of his gear and another part of the legend of why Rider Gear was needed. "Guess it's time to start the experiment."

He dropped his pack and pulled out some of the items. The biggest of which was a black and red handheld device which seemed like it was a mechanical pump with clear gears on the right side and hollow slots for objects on the left. The far right side had a simple winch handle connected to the clear gears. This was the Build Driver his club dared him to enter the museum with, hopefully more than just a toy if the stories were right.

"Here goes," Joseph gulped.

He put on the Build Driver which instantly generated a belt to strap itself on him. After that, he took out a pair of small bottles; a red one which was modeled after a rabbit and a blue one which was modeled after a tank. He shook them in his hands. This caused physics and mathematical equations to appear in the air.

He inserted the bottles into the Build Driver's slots. As each entered, a symbol of the bottle's shape appeared before each one, making Joseph's eyes widen.

"**Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!**"

He turned the crank lever rapidly, pumping the essence from the FullBottle through his Build Driver. Long hollow tubes began to extend from the belt while a metal press base formed at his feet. People started to gape as the tubes filled with either red or blue fluid, coming to the far end of the base where the tubes began to coil around themselves. The fluid filled the tubes, turning them into solid armor, red in front and blue in back. The two sides were incomplete, each only having half the head, one arm, part of the torso, and half the leg. The were opposites though showing they were meant to fit together.

"**Are You Ready?**"

Was he ready? Only one way to find out. He clenched his fists before he held them to his sides, mimicking the pose the two sides of armor were making. He then made perhaps the most fateful call of his life.

"Henshin!"

With a hiss of steam, or perhaps a different gas, the two sides came together, covering Joseph in the completed suit. A thick black material covered what the armor didn't. Together, the torso armor seemed to be a mishmash of red and blue. The left leg sported red armor and a spring which wrapped around the shin. The right leg had tank tread designs on the foot. A tank cannon and rabbit rear decoration rose on the left side of his collarbone and the lenses of the helmet were round and large, but held impressions on a rabbit on the left side, and a tank on the right, the ear and barrel rising up to give the image of antennae. As the armor settled, a blast of white, almost glittering, steam came from the creases in the suit while the frame around Joseph disappeared.

"**Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!**"

As Joseph made his transformation, he certainly did not go unnoticed. People who were cowering, trying to hide from the Smash, or holding up their phones to try and record all of the action clearly saw what he had been doing and quickly began paying attention.

"What was that!?"

"So cool!"

"Is it some kind of mechanical Quirk?"

"Is it another Pro Hero debut?"

"Awesome!"

"What's his name?

"His belt said RabbiTank? Is that his name?"

"Hey, I see the motif! Why a rabbit and a tank though?"

"Ah, ah, ah, let a guy introduce himself," Joseph laughed, a mix of euphoria that a childhood dream was actually happening, and perhaps the Nebula Gas powering his suit raising his adrenaline levels. "This actually is my debut. Allow me to introduce myself." He moved into a pose much like Sento Kiryu from the show, announcing for all to hear.

"I am Build. Kamen Rider Build. And now the laws of victory are set!"

"A catchphrase!"

"Cool!"

"Save the day Kamen RIder!"

Joseph, now Build, grinned and ran into battle. He used the Rabbit Foot to spring himself over to the Smash and nailed it with a kick using his Tank Foot. The Smash grunted in pain, launched back by the impact before crashing against an abandoned car, landing in a heap.

It grunted, standing up without seeming to have too much injury before it snarled, extending the spikes from its arms and charging back into the fray.

"Drill Crusher!"

More tubes extended from the Build Driver, filling with red and blue Nebula gas next to Build before fusing together, creating what looked like a short sword shaped like a drill. The Kamen Rider was quick to grab it, letting the connecting tubes vanish before he swung wide, catching the Smash's needles in mid-strike.

"Oh no you don't!" Build snapped, kicking the Smash in the side before strike it twice across the chest with a shower of sparks. 'Man, who knew being babysat by Dad's army friends would pay off like this. All that CQC training really was worth it.'

The Needle Smash snarled then lunged again at Build, swinging wildly. As the basic Smash was more of a primal creature than a sentient person in their state, it's attacks were clumsy and uncoordinated, although certainly not lacking in power or endurance, able to smash cars, concrete, and other such things.

Build grunted, parrying the blows. He wasn't used to an opponent that was so strong, but fortunately his armor let him cover the gap between them in terms of raw power. Pushing the Needle Smash's arm aside, he thrust up into its abdomen, eliciting another blast of sparks as the kajin stumbled back in pain.

"Okay pal, just stand still so we can get that Nebula Gas out of you!" Build called, preparing to launch another strike on the Smash.

The Smash roared and swung its arms, causing the spikes to fly from its body towards Build. The Kamen Rider frowned, but swung his weapon to deflect the needles coming at him out of the air. Many fell, but some sparked off his armor causing short bursts of pain, but the thick alloys of the armor made sure they didn't penetrate.

The Smash hissed as it got to it's feet, looking around as if trying to find an exit. Nearby, a group of people were brazenly trying to record the fight on their smartphones. Hissing, the Smash swung an arm at them, throwing more needles their way.

"Oh no!" Build cried, activating his Rabbit Foot in a flash of red.

The bystanders screamed as the Smash's attack flew at them. For a moment, they feared they would be killed. In the next moment, a red and blue figure got between them and the attack. Build swung fast, but grunted as several of the needles impacted against him. He huffed, ignoring the pain as he glanced back to the onlookers, their eyes wide with shock.

"Run! Get out of here!" he shouted, gesturing for them to flee. They did not need more instruction as they began to run and get some distance from the fight.

He had forgotten about the onlookers, thinking the Smash would just focus on him. If it would go and attack the people around it in the middle of the fight then he could not drag this fight for much longer. It was time to finish this. He gripped the crank lever and turned it rapidly, pumping the Nebula Gas from his FullBottles through his Build Driver.

"**Ready, Go!**"

Build crossed his arms and merely stomped his Tank Foot on the grund, causing a small circle to sink into the ground with him on it. In front of the hole, a graph chart appeared in two halves, coming together to trap the Needle Smash at the bottom, causing to struggle to escape. The people gasped, loving the sight and snapping pictures of it.

The hole Build made then had a pillar of earth rise out, launching him straight to the top of the graph where he extended for a kick, blue and red Nebula energy circling his leg.

"**Vortex Finish! Yeah!**"

"HAAAA!" cried the Kamen Rider, following the angle of the graph before his kick collided with the Smash in a blast of energy. The kaijin let off a scream before exploding in a haze of green fire while Build flew by, landing in a crouch while the flames died down.

"WOW! Hissatus!"

"So cool!"

"Ha! You know you're beaten when you explode!"

Build huffed for breath before he stood up. The Needle Smash was still on the ground, groaning from being put down. Still, Build knew that unless the Nebula Gas was extracted, it would eventually just get back up and start rampaging all over again.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll take care of this too," Build spoke out, perhaps trying to reveal the Smash may not be the way it was on purpose. Pulling an empty FullBottle out from his side, he twisted the cap to open it before pointing it at the downed Smash.

Immediately the form of the kajin began to dissolve, as if turning into a gas, while the sparkling gas in question was drawn into the FullBottle. The small device began to swell as if filling up. When the last of the gas was removed, a spider web design covered the bottle before Build snapped it shut.

Left behind was a man who seemed to be an ordinary person. No tattoos, ratty clothes, or anything which would make him seem like he was someone who willingly turned into a monster.

"Hey, can someone call an ambulance for this guy?" Build asked. "He's been exposed to a hazardous material and will need medical attention!" Onlookers immediately began calling on their phones, if they hadn't already, reporting the incident and what happened.

"Gotta love the technological age," Build chuckled, dusting his hands off. "Well, my job's done here."

Sirens began to ring in the air. Wow, that was quick. Well, then it was time for him to bow out. No need to get entangled with the authorities just yet. No way he'd be able to explain the Nebula Gas and the Smash all being alien tech.

Coming to an alley as the police pulled in, Build removed his driver, causing his armor to vanish before he began walking away. He was still high on the adrenaline from all the fighting, plus he made his debut as a hero. How cool was that?

* * *

"_The police would like the public's help in apprehending the dangerous vigilante known as Kamen Rider Build_."

Joseph gaped at the news report going on a large screen perched on a building, the kinds used to show ads and announcements in big cities across japan. His gut sank like a rock and he saw his armored form with a big WANTED stamped across the bottom.

"Wha...what…?" Joseph continued to gape.

"_At 11:25 today, an intersection between XXOO and XXYY was attacked by an as of yet unidentified villain who seemingly went on a nonsensical rampage,_" the newscaster continued, bringing up someone's phone video of the Needle Smash appearing. "_Immediately, this vigilante appeared and swiftly apprehended the villain before disappearing._"

The news footage continued, showing Joseph, his face partially hidden due to the angle, transforming into Build. As the newscaster continued describing the incident continued, so did the imagery of the fight, which was pretty well done.

"_The Musutafu Police Department released the following statement regarding the incident. 'While we praise individuals for stepping up and doing the right thing, this is in no way acceptable behaviour as Pro Heroes and the Hero Public Safety Comittee are in place for just these sorts of emergencies. They are specially trained to handle such incidents and for public safety we cannot allow anyone with a combat capable quirk to run around and cause chaos for the sake of their own goals.'_"

"Oh come on!" Joseph groaned. That was so much crap! He was there, he had equipment specifically capable of handling a Smash, and he was getting slammed for it. "...Wait, Pro Heroes? Hero Public Safety Commission? The heck?"

"_While the police are asking for the public's help, the witnesses to the conflict are expressing positive feedback concerning the vigilante,_" the newscaster continued. "_Many witness statements regarding him state he was easily mistaken as a Pro Hero and many were shocked he was a vigilante. Here are some witness statements._"

A pair of high school girls giggled as they realized they were on TV, "_He was so cool! He totally saved us just like a real Pro Hero!_"

A salaryman was scratching the back of his head, "_Gotta say, he really dealt with that guy. It was over real quick and clean. Sure he's not a Pro Hero? Maybe his paperwork got missed or something._"

An older man chuckled, "_Say he's not a pro? Bah, just let him take the test and let him get a license. He's already got what it takes if you ask me!_"

"Heh," Joseph grinned, hearing the people who actually saw him fight praise his actions. Well, it seemed like he found more about what made this world different than his old one. Maybe he ought to try and figure out what some of those terms meant?

"Library time," Joseph nodded.

* * *

"OOOOOH! Look at that!"

The one who spoke was a teenage girl who, of all things, sported pink hair tied in dreadlocks which were pinned away from her face. She had an eager, if not maniacal, gleam in her eyes as she watched the fight between Build and the Smash on several monitors, each video a different angle from different social media sites.

Unlike many girls her age, she was dressed in a simple mechanic's jumpsuit, the top half tied around her waist while she sported a tank top underneath. Multiple tools lay strewn about the large room, along with numerous finished, or half-done, projects. All of it was set aside for the moment as she was paying strict attention to the screens.

Her name was Mei Hatsume, a mad genius of an inventor who was keyed up to attend the famous U.A. High School

"Hm, okay, I see!" the girl grinned eagerly. Her eyes were on the equations which hovered around the vigilante before the transformation. To most, the formulas would be just nonsensical, but to Hatsume who had worked with mathematics and machines, it was like looking at art murals. It was truly beautiful.

"The formulas are amazing! The precision! The power! The entire equation! How did he make them work in the armor?! I have to know!" She squealed in joy as she kept copying the equations. "Okay, this angle has a flow equation to maximize the fuel. This one's got the pistons and mechanical dynamics. Ah...darn, the angle cuts off the power distribution ratios!" She frantically pulled up more windows, trying to get the missing parts of the equation.

Mei had a gift for invention and she always liked to make sure that all the details, for her inventions at least, were covered as she worked. When it came to machines, she would work herself up into a frenzy, although there was no guarantee her inventions, affectionately called her babies, wouldn't blow up on activation. Of course, failure was part of the road to success, so no matter how many times she did fail Mei would keep right on going.

"Come on, I need a better view!" Mei whined, her yellow and cross-shaped pupils widening and narrowing as she viewed the screens. This was Mei's Quirk, an inborn ability she had beyond human norms. It was called Zoom, allowing Mei to zoom in or zoom out her vision like a telescopic lens. It was vital in the delicate works of her machines.

"Got ya!" Mei grinned, finding the angle she needed and continuing to scribble the equations. "Okay, the power distribution is set! So how's he manifesting the armor? Tubes, a Quirk? No, that's all tech! So beautiful!"

Mei was finding herself overcome with excitement and inspiration. There was so much she saw in the suit and how it empowered the user. Power armor was nothing new, Mei having built several such suits in the past. It was what was powering the suit which got her excited. The gas which flowed through the tubes and the white version which burst through the armor as it came online. That was something new, and Mei would know with the high resolution screens and her own Quirk seeing the details regular eyes didn't. Something was different about that gas and she wanted, needed to know!

"Okay, got it!" Mei grinned, marking the last of the equations she could see. "Got plenty, but there's so much more I didn't catch! I've got to know more!" she giggled before she rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a handheld device. "Okay emissions-detecting baby, let's find our mystery man!"

Mei cackled in excitement and charged out of the door of her room, running for the front door.

"I'm going out Mom!"

"Don't blow anything up!"

"I won't!"

* * *

Finding a library was easy, but getting the information straight was something of a challenge since it seemed like it came right out of a comic book. As it turned out, superheroes were a very real thing, along with numerous villains who did combat with them. It all began with a genetic twist which was known publicly as a Quirk.

It started when a baby born in China found himself glowing brightly. After that, more and more people were born with special abilities. They ranged from mundane, like changing skin tone, to causing localized earthquakes just by stomping their feet. It was a wild jump in human evolution, but the cause was never discovered. Some suspected it was a virus carried by mice, like a reverse of the Black Plague or something.

With the discovery of new powers, there was a big shift in society. Namely, people who had these powers decided they could do whatever they wanted, and the people who would use those powers to protect people. It brought the stories of superheroes to life and governments scrambled to bring together new laws and checks to try and keep the villains in check and potential heroes from getting themselves, others, or other villains killed. Likewise they would try to discourage people from joining either side and make it worse.

It led to the formation of the Pro Hero system, a system of government which trained, dispatched, and otherwise got Heroes up to snuff and even gave them a license to go into the world and protect people. They didn't just fight villains, but they aided the police, helped with natural disaster relief and even worked in public works to help people. Strangely, the government would sponsor the best heroes and they could get a sweet pay for their rankings and popularity.

Pro Heroes, it seemed, were ranked according to a national chart depending on their actions, public approval, contributions to society, and other factors. The higher in the ranks they were, the better pay and benefits they got. Of course, there were Hero Agencies, usually founded by previous or current heroes, who helped new heroes get into the ranks. Merchandising was through the roof as heroes were more popular than movie stars or models, and some heroes did both along with their hero duties!

Being a hero was a lucrative business if you could play the part as well as actually be a hero.

"I'm...not sure how I feel about that," Joseph admitted to himself. Sure, an organized structure for heroes and means of supporting them was a great thing. If heroes had support, then they could focus more on full time hero work instead of struggling to keep up with it like some heroes such as Spider-Man or Flash. Not everyone could have Batman or Iron Man's fortunes.

Still, it was a big mistake as well. With the rankings, and now heroes treating it as a full time job, heroes actually had to compete against one another for popularity and approval, or else their rankings would drop and so would their livelihood. It could easily make heroes turn on each other and fumble fighting crime if they were too busy squabbling over rights to bust villains or public appearances.

"So...explains those two in the news," Joseph thought back to the report of the heroes Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. He thought the two were hamming it up, and they were to make themselves public and have people remember them. He also thought the pair were working together, but knowing this, and recalling how they looked at the end, did Mount Lady purposefully take the spotlight for herself and rob Kamui Woods of some well-earned credit when he had been doing the fighting and she jumped in for the critical strike?

Joseph yawned and put the books away, now feeling like he knew why the police were trying to crack down on him. He had been doing hero work without a license and that classified hi as a vigilante, something governments wanted to discourage.

Waving goodbye to a librarian who could mute people she was near, he stepped outside as he pondered his next course of action, "Man, how do I even get a hero license? Kamen Riders can't exactly be heroes if the public won't support them." Getting to the sidewalk, he sighed, "Well, no point worrying about it now. Not when I need a place to crash."

Sticking his hands in his pockets, Joseph decided to try and find a hotel. Maybe he could be a bit more concerned he had been partially spotted on television, but since it seemed no one got a good look at his face before he transformed, he felt reasonably safe. Still, he'd look into finding a hat or something to hide his hair.

"I FOUND YOU!"

"BWAH!" he cried out, spinning around. Pointing an excited finger at him was a girl in a mechanic jumpsuit and tank top with pink dreadlock hair. She was holding some kind of handheld device and was smiling triumphantly.

"Uh...what?" Joseph asked, hand over his heart.

"I said I found you! Tracked you here from the scene of your fight!" the girl bragged. She came in closer, eyeing him up and down. "I got a sample of that gas you gave off when you transformed. It hangs like a fog even if you can't see it. Stuck to you too and I managed to follow you here. This is awesome!"

"Um...what fight?" Joseph gulped.

"You know, the one with that needle villain!" the girl laughed. "I saw all the clips people posted to Facespace! Got you in all that technological glory! I just had to track you down so I could ask you all about it! Do you know how many awesome ideas I had just by watching you use it? I've just got to examine it myself! Please? Please?"

"Ah, hey," Joseph gulped, looking around. He paled when he saw a police officer looking at the scene. "C-come on now, you don't even know anything about me."

"Sure I do!" the girl grinned like a kid of christmas. "You're that vigilante Kamen Rider Build!"

Gasps came from the onlookers and the police officer quickly had enlarged handcuffs come out of his sleeves.

"Oh crap!"

* * *

**Present Time**

"This sucks! This sucks! This sucks!" Joseph cried as he was still being chased by the cop.

"I said stop, vigilante!" the officer shouted.

"It wasn't vigilantism! It was being a good samaritan!" Joseph pitifully tried shouting back.

"You use your Quirk to harm someone, it's a crime no matter the reason!"

"But I don't even have a Quirk!"

* * *

"Heh, tough luck Quirkless! Looks like we get your cash again!"

A bespectacled young man in a school uniform groaned on the ground. In front of him, a trio of delinquents who were taking his money from his wallet before tossing it onto him. The trio were clearly in possession of Quirks. One sported spider legs coming from his back, another had a pair of bat wings, and the third had a cobra head instead of a human one.

"Easiest mark yet," the cobra Quirk thug laughed as he and his buddies began to walk away. "Man, milking Quirkless wimps makes a bundle!"

"You said it boss!" agreed the spider Quirk thug.

"Hee, hee, hee!" laughed the third.

While Joseph's research into his new world did reveal the uniqueness of Quirks, it failed to educate him about the downside and the darker aspect of the society he now found himself in. Namely, the people who were regarded as Quirkless.

Quirkless people made up about 20% of the population and were considered second class in a sense. In the Quirk based society, one got more preferential treatment the more heroic in potential their Quirks could be. People with weaker Quirks, although not as flashy, could still find their niche even if it was not as glamorous.

Quirkless individuals did not even have that luxury. Although not outright scorned, many people considered them subjects of pity. In a world where almost everyone could do so many amazing things, they were pitied because they couldn't stand out at all. Although not intentional, many tended to overlook them, or pass them over since without a Quirk, they were considered weaker and unable to keep up with others who did have Quirks.

Worse, there were plenty of people who liked to abuse and take advantage of someone Quirkless all because they knew those individuals couldn't fight back. It made harming them very easy for the morally bankrupt, of which the trio were counted among them, having repeatedly attacked Quirkless people to rob them.

"You...you...thugs," the young man grunted, struggling to get up. "Stop...looking down...on me!"

"What are you going to do Quirkless? Cry at us? Ha!" the cobra thug laughed mockingly, barely passing a glance. "You're a freak man. Get a Quirk and maybe we'll give back you cash!"

"Too bad he can't!" laughed the spider thug.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Laughed the bat thug, his two friends joining him as they walked for the street.

A figure in red with a green visor eyed the scene critically before his gaze went to the Quirkless boy. As the thugs were getting further away, he leaped down from his perch, landing in a crouch next to the young man.

"Well, this won't do at all." He produced a rifle then loaded it with a bottle of Nebula Gas. He took aim, his finger hovering over the trigger. "Now, let the meek inherit the world." He fired a blast of the gas which enveloped the Quirkless victim.

The boy coughed and began to choke as the gas covered his frame, but soon a loud growl echoed as the shadow of his form began to bulk up and grow. The noises caused the three thugs to stop and turn around, seeing the red figure as well as their victim emerge from the strange smoke.

"WAAAAAUGH!?"

* * *

"I can't (pant) believe (pant) I got (pant) away," Joseph huffed. He was leaning against a building, struggling to catch his breath.

The chase had been harrowing for him, but he managed to get away from the police officer by ducking through some alleys and good luck with crossing streets. He needed a moment to catch his breath, but for the moment, he at least felt like he was safe.

"Can you tell me about your tech now?"

"GAH!" Joseph leaped away, hearing someone beside him. To his shock, it was the girl with the pink dreadlocks again. "Where the hell did you come from?!"

"Followed from above with my boots," she grinned, lifting her metal boots to show rocket thrusters in the soles. "But enough about my babies, I wanna talk about yours! Where'd you build that armor? What's it powered by? What's it made of? How'd you program it?"

"Woah! Hey, calm down!" Joseph cried as the girl got closer into his personal space with each question. "Why should I answer? You just outed me to the cops!"

The girl blinked, but them seemed thoughtful, "Oh yeah. Kind of missed that. Well, would it help if I said sorry?"

"Not if you say it half-assed like that!" Joseph snapped. "Who the heck are you anyway?!"

"Oh, right! Mei Hatsume! Nice to meet you!" the girl laughed with a salute. "So what's the story behind your gear, Build-kun? Can I take a look?"

What was he supposed to tell her? That his toys became real after he got taken to this world? No way! Besides, she was more likely to break something and with the Smash running around in the world here, he was going to need his Driver to bring them down.

"Sorry, but hell no!" Joseph shouted when he saw the mad gleam in her eyes. She might be a pretty face, but he would not cave.

"Oh come on! For science?" she asked with an, admittedly cute, pout.

Joseph was about to tell her what he thought about science when several screams caught his attention. People were fleeing from a group of buildings down the street before there was the sounds of rock breaking and cloud of dust was kicked up. Screams echoed from inside an alley before three people with animal parts flew out, crashing in battered heaps on the ground.

"Huh?" Mei blinked at the scene.

"Well that ain't good," Joseph grimaced.

Heavy footfalls came from the smoke before a blocky and round figure came stomping out. It was a round, almost fist-shaped creature which appeared to be part machine with orange and blue armor. It's arms were enchanes in the metal, making them appear to be giant clubs. Growths on its shoulders and it's head made it appear like they were knuckles to a fist while it's only facial features were a trio of black holes.

"Oh no," Joseph gaped. "Now the Strong Smash?"

"'Strong Smash'? Is that a villain?" Mei asked, still curious about things. She then gasped in delight, "Are you going to transform and fight him?"

"I-!"

"Hold it villain!"

Almost as if on cue, or some kind of dramatic timing, a blue and brown figure leaped down from above and landed in the street in a crouched fighting stance. His wooden armor and blue suit made it clear who he was as he stared down the Strong Smash.

"It's Kamui Woods!"

"What a relief!"

"He'll beat that villain!"

The Strong Smash was less than impressed as it just snarled at the Pro Hero, slamming its fists together in anger.

"I'll never understand why evildoers like you insist on going on these senseless rampages," Kamui Woods frowned behind his helmet. "In any case, duty demands I bring you down! Prepare to face justice!"

The Smash roared and charged for the hero. Kamui Woods stayed still for a moment until the kaijn was swinging at him, only to duck away at the last moment. He stuck out his arms, turning his limbs into expanding tree roots which lunged for the Smash. It gave a grunt as the roots wrapped it up. Sounds of heavy impacts came as the Smash struggled, but for the moment, it was contained.

"Bulky and slow. Just try to escape that!" Kamui Woods smirked.

"NYRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the Smash roared, and for a moment it seemed to try to break free. However, instead of moving, a grey and sickly-looking gas began to spray from the hollows of its body, filling the immediate area. Kamui Woods' eyes narrowed, but then a sharp pain travelled up his arms.

"Wh-what?!" he grimaced, feeling a painful numbness in what passed for his hands and fingertips.

Like soft rubber, the roots which bound the Strong Smash went soft and them flopped to the ground, releasing the Smash with a roar as it continued to spew the gray gas from its body. Taking a look at the Pro Hero, it began stomping down the street towards him.

"Okay, so you have a herbicide trick. I've faced that before!" the Pro Hero, although surprised, didn't seem intimidated. Quickly calling back his hands, they returned to roughly their original shape. His hands still felt numb, but he could still fight.

In rage, the Strong Smash swung at him again, but the Pro Hero nimbly darted out of the way. He swung for the Smash's face, wood meeting thick bio-organic metal with a loud clang. With his speed, he landed more strikes, all aimed at disabling the kaijin, although each of his attacks just met with more metal surfaces.

"Tough one *cough* are you?" the Pro Hero coughed as he jumped back. "Good. I've been *cough* meaning to get some exercise in!"

Joseph watched the fight and heard Kamui Woods coughing, "Oh no. He's breathing it in!"

"What? That gas?" asked Mei, using her Zoom Quirk to get a better view of the fight.

"Yes, the Nebula Gas. That stuff does major mutations to humans without Quirks. Who knows what it might do to someone who has one!" Joseph grimaced, forgetting his grievance with the pinkette for the moment.

"Nebula Gas…" Mei pondered, quickly writing down the name in a notebook. "What are its properties?"

"I…" Joseph grimaced, but found himself interrupted by a roar from the Strong Smash.

The Smash swung at Kamui Woods several more times, but the nimble hero still managed to avoid being struck. As the Smash started to stand still, it was still giving off more gas. The cloud soon began to cover them both, and soon Kamui Woods felt his body starting to slow down.

"Gh!" he grunted, missing a step and stumbling. His vision began to fog and his arms felt like they were going entirely numb. What was going on? Wasn't this smoke just a distract-….oh no! "P-Poison gas?!"

"NYRAH!" the Smash roared, swinging hard and smashing the increasingly paralyzed hero in the chest. The impact sent Kamui woods tumbling back where he crashed into a wall, he gagged in pain, feeling his entire body growing numb, like a vital function was shutting down on him. The fresh air brought some of his senses back, but the incoming Smash threatened to cloud them all over again.

"Crap…" he grunted, struggling to stand.

"Nyrah…" the Smash snorted, raising a fist as the gas closed in.

"Oh yoo hoo!"

*WHAM!*

A large purple-gloved hand came down, all but flattening the Smash. Above, the gigantic form of Mount Lady was smirking as she leaned over from a side street where she likely arrived from. She kept the Smash pinned down, although it struggled as if it didn't sense the pain of the strike at all.

"Well, seems like I got here right in the nick of time," Mount Lady smirked as she eyed Kamui Woods. "Are you alright there. Seems like this is a nasty customer."

"Nasty enough," Kamui Woods groaned. Despite being annoyed with her over the giant villain, he couldn't complain about her timing. At least this time her sense of dramatics actually saved him. "Careful...the gas…"

"Right, right," Mount Lady waved him off before she curled her fingers around the Smash and lifted him up to see what she was dealing with, "Now, what do we do with-!"

"NYRAHHHH!" the Smash bellowed, exhaling a stream of Nebula Gas which crashed directly into Mount Lady's face. The new Pro Hero suddenly gagged and erupted into a coughing fit as she dropped the Smash. Like Kamui Woods, her body started going numb and she lost control of her Quirk, shrinking her back down to her normal size. Next to her, the Strong Smash got up to its feet again, trembling in fury.

"Woah...does Nebula Gas do that?" Mei blinked.

"Dunno the advanced stuff," Joseph grimaced. "But it looks like the heroes can't handle that crap!" He reached into his bag and quickly pulled out his Driver and FullBottles.

"Woah, are you sure?" Mei gasped. "More heroes are probably on the way. They'll try to capture you if they see you!"

Joseph paused, but only for a moment as he shook his head, "This is something I gotta do. This is something only I can do. Licensed or not, let's begin the experiment!"

Joseph strapped on the Build Driver and Mei's eyes sparkled as they zoomed in on the device. She also watched as he shook his two FullBottles, summoning the equations again. She almost let off a girlish squeal of delight as she scribbled them all down. Joseph just ignored her as he inserted the FullBottles into his belt.

"**Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!**"

He turned the Crank Lever, generating the Snap Ride Builder under Mei's fascinated gaze. The tubes filled with colored Nebula Gas as the armor was formed from it, ready to use.

"**Are You Ready?**"

He was ready now and fully committed. This was his wish, after all.

"Henshin!"

"**Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!**"

"So cool!" Mei squealed, rabidly taking notes on everything she saw.

Build ran forward as he saw the Smash advance on Mount Lady. Quickly, he summoned out the Drill Crusher. Grabbing the drill portion, he removed it with a snap before flipping it over and reattaching it to another portion of the hilt. Adjusting his grip, he pointed it at the Smash before squeezing the hidden trigger, firing several blasts of energy into the Smash's back, causing it to bellow in pain before turning around.

"H-Huh?" Mount Lady blinked weakly.

"Who?" Kamui Woods huffed.

"Sorry for being late. My name is Build. Kamen Rider Build. Now the laws of victory are set!"

Mount Lady and Kamui Woods both blinked, knowing the name. Being part of, or leading, Hero Agencies, they were always alerted when criminals or vigilantes were wanted by the police. It surprised them that one would so brazenly come to a fight where Pro Heroes were present, but they weren't going to turn down the help.

The Smash just roared and charged right back at the Rider.

Build fired a few shots, sparking off the Smash's armor although it didn't stop the kaijin much. Getting closer, he ducked under the swing of its arm before using the Tank Foot treads to pull him behind it. As the Smash spun around, Build did the same before kicking it in the chest with his Rabbit Foot. A wave of red energy came from the impact point before the Smash was hurled backwards, for the moment, clearing the air around the Pro Heroes.

"Mei! Get them out of here!" Build shouted as he stood, running to keep the Smash away.

"Righti-O!" Mei nodded. She quickly ran to the two heroes before she pulled out what seemed to be mechanical panels which quickly expanded and had hover ports on the underside. "Express emergency stretchers, courtesy of Mei Hatsume!"

"*Cough!* are you, with him?" Kamui Woods coughed as Mei helped him onto a stretcher.

"Well, I was hunting him down to try and learn about his tech when this mess happened," Mei shrugged, not caring if she might get treated as a vigilante with Build, or perhaps not realizing it. "Now I get to see it in action live! Oh, I knew I should have brought my security drones!"

Meanwhile, Build was staring down the Smash, wondering how he might be able to bring it down fast and keep more Nebula Gas from spewing out, "OK, Strong Smash. Super strength, big fists, thick armor and slow. What weaknesses can I exploit?" He really wished he had additional FullBottles now. Unfortunately, he only carried his main Best wasn't like he thought the legend would actually work.

"Well, no time to doubt. Let's begin!" Build huffed. Firing more rounds at the Smash to keep it away for a moment, he quickly changed the Drill Crusher back to its sword mode and charged into the fray.

The Smash roared and swung at him, but Build ducked around the attacks before striking the Smash across the chest. It stumbled slightly, allowing the Rider to strike it with both legs, knocking it back, although it didn't seem to slow the Smash down in any way. He quickly realized that he needed to do something to wear the Smash's durability and endurance down so that a finisher could put it down once and for all.

'Wait, I've got a drill sword,' he thought to himself. With a mental grin, he adjusted his footing.

"Hup!" Build breathed, jumping at the Smash with his Rabbit Foot. The speed took the Smash by surprise again before the Drill Crusher impacted it's chest with a flash of sparks. He gripped the handle of the weapon and pulled the trigger mechanism, causing the drill to spin with a shower of sparks. The Smash roared in pain before another thrust, causing the portion of armor to crack and splinter before the Smash stumbled back a few steps. It seemed woozy and thicker clouds of Nebula Gas seemed to be leaking from the wound.

"Got my weak point!" Build nodded.

Quickly converting his weapon back to gun mode, he took out the Tank bottle and inserted it into his weapon.

"**Ready Go! Vortex Break!**"

He pressed the muzzle against the Strong Smash and fired at point blank range. Around his body, a blue image of a tank appeared, its barrel overlapping the barrel of the Drill Crusher. As the trigger was pulled, the tank fired and a blast of blue energy fired like a tank shell, launching the Smash far down the street before it let off a scream and exploding.

"Woo!" Mei cheered from her spot, cheering for the raw power of technology.

Build lowered his weapon as he lowered his gun. Huffing, he stepped forward and approached the downed Smash as the flames died down. Seeing the kaijin groan in pain, despite the cracks in its armor, it was otherwise undamaged. It was temporary until it recovered.

"Hold on a second. I'll get you out of that thing," Build sighed, pulling another empty FullBottle and aimed it at the Smash. Like the Needle Smash before, the kaijin's body dissolved, absorbing the Nebula Gas and revealing a high school student with glasses, unconscious from it all.

"Whew," the Rider sighed, lower his arm as the FullBottle changed to represent its use.

Build looked to the unconscious student and gingerly picked him up after dismissing his weapon. Walking over to where the Pro Heroes were set. Mei quickly saw his attention and opened up another quick stretcher which Build already set the student on.

"Why do you even have these?" asked Build.

"Always prepared to haul big components home," Mei grinned. "Is he okay? The villain?"

"He's more of a victim, unless he knew what Nebula Gas did," Build answered. He checked the teen's breathing and found it regular despite the bruises he was covered in. "More likely someone else did this to him."

"What?!" Mei gasped. "Why?"

"Villains. Who can say?" Build shrugged.

"**Indeed, young vigilante!**" a booming voice spoke up.

Build blinked and turned around, seeing a new figure had leaped down from above. He was an incredibly muscled man with swept back blonde hair and tufts rising up from the middle. He had an incredibly charming grin and his outfit was tight with colors of red, white, and blue, making him look like he was an American superhero. Oddly, he had shadows covering his eyes save for the warm blue glow of his irises.

Still, the feeling of power and all around majesty coming from him made Build feel like he was going to be okay. Sure, the man was a Pro Hero who would have him arrested for being a vigilante, but somehow he seemed like the kind of guy who'd be willing to hear him out.

"Woah! All-Might!" Mei cried.

"Who?" Build asked, making Mei gape at him as if he had grown a second head

"**Hmm, that's a new reaction. I haven't heard someone ask that since my rookie days,**" All-Might chuckled as he approached. "**I heard the calls for heroes and came immediately. It seems our new vigilante took care of the issue instead.**" He glanced to see the shocked Mount Lady and Kamui Woods. "**Heroes, are you two well?**"

"I-I'm okay," Kamui woods grunted, trying to sit up. "Just need some air."

"No, you need to get checked," Build insisted. "Inhaling Nebula Gas can have all sorts of nasty effects and we need a hospital to make sure nothing else is happening to you!"

"**Truly?**" All-Might frowned slightly. "**Then let us make haste! Young vigilante, no, Kamen Rider Build, I am trusting you to aid in the transport of our fellow Heroes! Your knowledge may be able to aid them. If you truly believe in heroism despite your vigilante actions, please come with us to help those in need!**"

'_Is this what it would be like to talk to Superman?_' Build thought to himself. Sure, it was wordier than what Superman would have said it, but the same message and feeling was there. "Ah...sure."

"Best day ever!" Mei cheered.

* * *

Ambulances came and began checking on the people. Mount Lady and Kamui Woods, despite their recovering senses, were transported through them. Although Mount Lady asked All-Might to carry her as cutely as she could. No doubt hoping to get a chance to cozy up with, who it turned out, was the #1 ranked hero in Japan and called the Symbol of Peace.

Police kept Build under guard as he was forced to shut down his armor and write up everything he knew about Nebula Gas, which admittedly wasn't much beyond its potential to mutate people into a Smash if too much of it was inhaled or even absorbed through the skin. Many gave him sour looks, but others seemed to at least be at least respectful of him after helping save two Pro Heroes.

After he wrote down his report, Joseph found himself sitting alone in a private room at the hospital. After what felt like a few hours, he was finally met by someone entering the office. They were a pair, one being a man in a detective style trench coat and hat while the other was...a 3 foot tall animal combination of dog, mouse, and bear in office style trousers, vest, and shirt. He also sported a scar over one eye while the rest of him was covered in white fur.

"Ah…" Joseph blinked.

"Surprised? It's alright," the animal man nodded as he took a seat next to the detective. "It's not often you meet an animal who has a Quirk. Just call me Nezu."

"Ah, nice...to meet you," Joseph nodded, clearly confused.

"And I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi," the other man introduced. "I think you can guess why we're both here."

"The vigilantism and the Smash," Joseph nodded with a sigh.

"We were hoping you could explain some things to us," Nezu nodded. "Now, vigilantism is a crime and a grave one with the punishments involved. Of course, it may be mitigated not only because you don't have a Quirk, thus negating part of the punishment, but also because you demonstrated exemplary actions during your two stunts. Saving people, two Pro Heroes, and defusing villain attacks with minimal damage."

"You have a lot going for you," Detective Tsukauchi nodded. "All of these could lower your sentence. What could really help you though is if you tell us about this 'Nebula Gas' you mentioned creating the two villains you referred to as 'Smash'."

Joseph looked to his hands, "That's...a difficult story. Namely...because I don't know how to tell it without sounding crazy."

"Trust me, I can sniff out a lie a mile away," Detective Tsukauchi smiled. "Just tell the story honestly and I will believe you."

"Before I begin, are the Pro Heroes and the former Smash okay?" Joseph asked.

"The gas that Smash creature gave off seemed to cause bad reactions to their Quirks, but as they got oxygen and began flushing the remaining gas from their bodies, they are recovering swiftly," Nezu nodded with a pleased smile. "The former Smash have no memories of how they got that way, which is part of why we are talking to you now."

"Right," Joseph nodded. "Well, as far as I know, Nebula Gas is a potent power source if used properly. It's what powers my suit. If left unpurified and allowed to enter the human body, it can cause an almost biomechanical mutation into a creature called a Smash."

"And where does this gas come from?" asked the detective.

"I don't know the source," Joseph shook his head. "But I do know it's made from otherworldly materials. Like, things found in meteors or could be harvested from Mars."

The two men looked to each other with slightly widened eyes. The detective only nodded which made Nezu's eyes widen further.

"Alright...then how did you come to this technology?" asked Nezu.

Joseph snickered, "To be honest, I was just buying a prop for a hero cosplay thing for a bet. Wear a hero prop, walk through a museum and say your deepest wish in each exhibit before I got to keep it. Instead, I found out the damn thing works and I can be a hero."

"And you mentioned you were Quirkless," the detective made a note. "So instead of handing it in, you decided to try and become a vigilante. Not a smart move kid if you don't know what effect this gear will have on you."

"Didn't occur to me at the time," Joseph shrugged. "Didn't feel a thing after the first time so I figured it was safe."

"Foolishness of youth," Nezu shook his head. "So then how did you end up learning about these Smash?"

"Manual in the box described them and the Nebula Gas," Joseph replied. That was true as there were descriptions of Nebula Gas and Smash on and in the box. "I thought it was just a fun story to go with the prop so I threw it away. It's probably been taken to the dump by now."

"Hmm," Detective Tsukauchi nodded with another note. "Another thing we noticed is that we can't seem to find you in the registry, although, if you really don't have a Quirk I guess it's not a surprise we might not."

"Stupid bias," Nezu shook his head with distaste.

"Right," Joseph nodded. "Hey, that reminds me, about that Mei girl. Listen, I just met her today and she literally hunted me down just to see my gear. She wasn't helping me be a vigilante or anything."

Nezu chuckled, "We figured that out quickly when we interviewed her. Besides, she didn't use her Quirk and instead just made sure people were taken out of harm's way. That's just being a good samaritan so she's in no trouble."

"Good," Joseph sighed. Annoying as the girl might have been she didn't do anything worth getting arrested next to him. "So what happens to me now?"

"Well, provided the details clear, it all depends on you," Nezu replied. "All-Might has vouched for your actions. Even Mount Lady and Kamui Woods both agreed that if you hadn't been branded by the media as a vigilante, none of them would have guessed that you weren't a Pro Hero."

Joseph tilted his head, "So, wait, are the usual vigilantes really that bad?"

"Well, most vigilantes often disregard the law and due process in favor of pursuing heroic duties," Detective Tsukauchi explained. "Often they end up being violent, breaking several laws of their own accord, and doing unlawful things which often get them in as much trouble as the villains they pursue."

"But you managed to sidestep much of the things vigilantes do as you don't have a Quirk and made sure you did minimal damage and actually helped people instead of just chased villains," Nezu nodded. "So with our word, you can manage to get off with some probation provided you play ball with us."

"Which is?" asked Joseph suspiciously.

"Simple. We would like to recruit you to U.A. High School. You're the right age to join our school and with your obvious talent, it would be a waste to see you be jailed for vigilantism," Nezu smiled. "And your knowledge about this Nebula Gas and the Smash could be helpful against further incidents."

"And...what's U.A.?" asked Joseph.

"Only the best high school for heroic courses in the country," Nezu replied, although he was surprised that Joseph apparently hadn't heard of it. "Tuition is government sponsored so that's no expense for you. Do you have a parent or guardian who can supply you for school supplies?"

"Ah...not in this country," Joseph grimaced, earning another nod from the detective.

"Well, we do have scholarships," Nezu nodded, rubbing his chin. "But you will have to take the entrance exam in that case. If you score a high enough percentile, we can budget you in for supplies provided you keep your grades up."

"Some heroes may be interested in sponsoring you too," Detective Tsukauchi offered with optimism, "You have been a hit on social media. Some Hero Agencies may want to invest in you if you sign on with them for internships or after you graduate. Once word gets out that you're invited to U.A. now."

"Um...sounds...nice I suppose," Joseph scratched the back of his neck. He'd never been offered a scholarship for anything before. Now he jumped into harm's way and kind of hammed it up and suddenly he was a potential new hot commodity for the hero community? Wow. "Then...well...I guess I can take the opportunity...um...provided I can keep my gear."

"Well, some wanted to have it taken away," Nezu admitted, "But considering nothing about it is illegal, or something we have yet to identify, we can arrange to have it all returned."

"Ah, thank you," Joseph sighed in relief.

* * *

"HEEEEEEY!"

"BWAH!" Joseph found himself tackle hugged from behind. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the familiar pink dreadlocks of Mei. "Mei? We're in a hospital!"

"I know! Super easy to find you!" Mei grinned back, not giving up her grip. "I'm not letting you get away again! Not without finally learning everything about your tech! I'm so inspired! I've just got to know everything about it!"

"Mei, come on. I've got to find a place to stay! I got recruited for U.A.!" Jospeh sighed. "If I don't I get arrested for vigilantism! I've got to hunker down and study all I can!"

"No way! You got recruited?" Mei gasped, spinning around to Joseph's front. She wasn't shocked and if anything, her smile got wider. "I'm applying for U.A. too! I know! You can stay with me! I'll help you study and get ready and in return you let me study your gear!"

Joseph deadpanned at her, "You can not be serious."

"I am!" Mei grinned. "Mom will be okay with it and dad won't even notice unless you get involved in his theory work! Both of them say I need to get out more anyway so it's cool! Let's get you all sorted out and starting tinkering!"

She produced a backpack from somewhere, which unfolded into a second pair of arms. Both grabbed Joseph and picked him up, leaving him to flail in the air. "Wait, wait, wait! I still have my stuff here!"

"We'll pick it up on the way out! Science awaits!" Mei cackled, produced a small handheld switch. She pressed it and a small rocket booster emerged from her pack before it roared to life, launching the two down the hall towards the stairs, "Yahooooooooo!"

"Noooooooooooooo!"

**To Be Continued**

A/N: Well, thanks to the enthusiasm I recieved for this story, I decided to make it into an actual story. I hope you guys continue to enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Kamen Rider Build or My Hero Academia.

**My Kamen Rider Academia 2**

**By Ten-Faced Paladin**

**Chapter 2: Entrance Exam**

**Hatsume Residence**

Joseph yawned as he sat up from the cot he had been given since he had been kidnapped away from the hospital after his 'arrest'. True to her word, Mei dragged him kicking and screaming back to her place before she dumped him into her actual room and dragged out a cot for him to use and sleep on while he stayed with them.

Normally it might be considered lewd or scandalous for a young man and a young woman to share a room when they were barely acquaintances. However, the people of the Hatsume residence were wired a little differently in the head.

Firstly, Mei's room was in fact a basement lab filled with manufacturing tools and inventions all over the place. Hardly the kind of place a girl wanting to keep a boyfriend with her wanted for romantic intentions. The girl barely slept in her own bed, often falling asleep at her workbench or grabbing a nearby cot of her own when she got tired.

Secondly were Mei's parents. Her mother, an engineer herself, didn't see anything wrong with lending a friend a bed if they needed it, even if that person was of the opposite gender who they just met. The Hatsume matriarch seemed happier than Mei got out of the house and made a friend. Her father was constantly holed up, working on theoretical work for...something. Half of what he said never made sense to Joseph, although he seemed like his wife, happy that Mei actually left the house outside of school and made a new friend. Any parental reservation the two of them may have had likely vanished when Mei told them about Nebula Gas and his armor. THAT managed to get them all excited and welcomed Joseph in with open arms.

Mei had been ravenous, putting the Build Driver through every kind of test she could think of. Somehow, she managed to take the thing apart in minutes, study the pieces, and put it back together again without any damage and it worked just fine afterwards. She had four notebooks with ideas, observations, blueprints, and theories and was working through her fifth one when he last saw her working.

Navigating the maze of inventions and tool boxes, he found his box of old clothes. Donated by Mei's father, which was good since Joseph didn't have any clothes of his own. He slept in his jeans, so only pulled out an old All-Might t-shirt and pulled it on.

Dressed enough for breakfast, he headed for what he called 'The Deep End' of the lab where Mei's inventions got bigger and the clutter got worse since she had so many projects on the go. Navigating the machines, he found Mei right where he left her the previous night. She was slumped over the desk, asleep, but to his mortification, she was only wearing her tank top and panties.

"Well, she at least tried to get ready for bed," Joseph sighed running a hand down his face.

Mei, as he discovered early on, really didn't get the concept of personal space. He learned that fast when she constantly ran her hands over his body when he transformed around her, wanting to try and get a feel for the armor and what it was made of and how the Nebula Gas was distributed. She stripped constantly, wearing her jumpsuit with little underneath because of the heat when she worked with something hot, and them removed the top half when she didn't need it.

Joseph could admit Mei was a pretty girl with a developed body, but she didn't seem to know that and she really didn't understand the concepts of propriety between opposing genders. It was worse when she forgot what outfits she was wearing and got excited.

"Mei-chan, time to wake up," Joseph sighed, gently shaking the pinkette's shoulder. "Come on, time to get something to eat."

"Mmmmnn," Mei grumbled. She turned her head to the side and cracked a bleary eye open, "Mmnnn...morning JJ-kun. Fuwah. What time is it?"

"A bit past nine. Come on, let's get you some breakfast and you can get back to work."

Mei only replied with a second yawn before replying, "Sure. Still have to recalibrate some of the fuses in our baby."

"Gck," Joseph groaned. Another thing about Mei was that she absolutely loved all of her inventions, fails and successes. She referred to them all as her babies, often speaking about them as if they were babies. Since they were working together on one project, she constantly referred to it as 'their' baby, earning a lot of shocked looks from passerby when she bragged about it in public.

They were working on building a machine that would convert the Smash essence Joseph had collected into purified FullBottles. Mei had leaped at the chance, wanting to build machines using Nebula Gas herself and purifying the Smash Essence was a great way to start. Her enthusiasm was rather infectious, helping Joseph see that Mei, while blunt and perhaps lacking some common sense, was actually a very nice person.

What did scare him though, was that the blueprints from Sento Kiryuu's purifier had appeared in his mind whenever he thought of putting together something. He sketched out the first blueprint as if he knew it by heart even though he never drew a blueprint in his life.

Mei didn't notice that as she took the idea and ran with it. It took over a week of fabrication, another for construction, three explosions, seven blown fuses, a blackout which affected the block, and emptied the Smash Essence he got from the Needle Smash, but they managed to build a working Nebula Gas Purifier. It wasn't pretty, but Mei was determined to perfect 'their' baby no matter what. After breakfast, they were going to have their first real test of the thing would work as Joseph needed it to.

One bagel, and massive pout when Joseph made Mei sit back down to eat a proper breakfast later, the pair were in front of the bookcase-sized machine which would, with luck, purify Smash Essence into usable FullBottles for Build.

"Alright, let's test our baby out!" Mei grinned, thankfully wearing pants again.

The machine itself wasn't pretty. In fact, one might call it an eyesore. It had all sorts of panels mismatched all over to help encase the multiple filters which passed through it. Cables connected to the multiple generators which were set up to keep the thing from knocking out the power. The front had a cannibalized microwave where the FullBottle would go in. Something about microwaves able to reshape the FullBottle into a functional form.

"Okay JJ-kun! Insert FullBottle!" Mei grinned.

"Okay," Joseph gulped. Approaching the machine (which he still was wary of exploding), he opened the microwave portion and placed the Smash Essence inside before shutting it again. He then scrambled over to the blast shielding Mei set up while she was at the console. "FullBottle in!"

"Okay! Activating!" Mei grinned, pressing the big red button on the console.

The machine roared to life, making Joseph duck behind the protections in case it exploded again. A rainbow of colors came through it and sparks flew from the wire connections. Mei's maniacal laughter as she watched the machine work did not inspire any confidence from Joseph about things going well.

*DING!*

Then just like that, it was over. The colors, sparks, and laughter came to an end. Only some smoke from parts of the machine remained.

"Did it work?" asked Joseph.

"Well, we'll have to re-check the connections. I smell the smoke," Mei pondered. "We might have to see how the power was doing if it burned some spots. May have burned out some circuits on that. I'll have to do a diagnostic."

Joseph sighed, "Right, I'll just check on the FullBottle then." Gingerly stepping into the open, he approached the purifying machine and gingerly opened the microwave portion.

The item inside was not the same as it was before the process, which was good. Even better, it wasn't a melted lump of plasting with Smash Essence leaking out of it. Instead, he got the sight of a FullBottle like his Rabbit and Tank. This one had the scowling image of an ape of some kind with a brown filling inside.

"Hey, we got a Gorilla FullBottle!" Joseph laughed, taking out the item. "The purifier worked!"

" Ah-hah! Great, now whip out the belt and put the bottle in! Let's see if it works!" Mei grinned like a kid on christmas. "Important gear used in the field has to be tested thoroughly!"

Joseph nodded and walked to the open space he cleared for transformation tests. He had insisted on it after he learned that Nebula Gas, even from a Smash, had caused sickness in others. His gas may have been purified, but he didn't want to risk Mei's health with their rests. The space was well ventilated just for that kind of testing.

"Here goes," Joseph braced himself as he strapped his Driver on. Shaking the FullBottles, he twisted the tops before inserting them into the Driver.

"**Gorilla! Tank!**"

"Hm? No 'Best Match' this time?" asked Mei, scribbling in her notebook.

"I figure only certain pairs of FullBottles work best together," Joseph shrugged as the Snap Rider Builder rose up, filling up with Nebula Gas. The front Halfbody filled with brown gas, forming a new portion of armor.

"**Are You Ready?**"

"Henshin!"

Wordlessly, the two Halfbodies came together, donning Build in his new armor. The Tank portion remained the same, but where Rabbit had been, now a brown set stood. It had a silver plate like a pectoral muscle on the chest. The eyepiece was brown, shaped like a gorilla head with a raised fist acting as an antennae. His right arm was covered with a solid metal gauntlet shaped like a solid fist.

"Oooh! Good job!" Mei laughed, jogging up to Build before running her hands across the Gorilla Halfbody. Joseph flinched, again as Mei entered his personal space, but knew her mind was focused on his armor. "Hmm, this portion seems thicker than your Tank Halfbody. Likely meant to take more punishment. The fist portion may be able to deal extra damage."

"So an abiotic FullBottle representing something hard may be the best match for this one," Joseph pondered.

"Hard..." Mei pondered. "Maybe the next Smash we encounter will provide us with the essence to make a Best Match."

Undoing the transformation, Joseph said, "Well, we're going to need a way to track Smash. If only we got some kind of Nebula Gas tracker."

"Already got one!" Mei grinned. "It's how I found you. With all the Nebula Gas you give off, I can make it way more sensitive so we can track from a farther radius! We may even track the guys making the Smash in the first place!"

"Really? Can you try it now?" Joseph asked with hope.

"Sure!" Mei nodded, starting to fiddle with the machine. She always loved the chance to show off her invention, especially in front of potential sponsors. As she fiddled with the machine, she spoke, "Say, I got this feeling we're forgetting something. Are we forgetting something?"

"Um, I'm not sure," Joseph frowned. "We tested the machine, had breakfast. Study later tonight, I guess I can check the calendar upstairs".

"Kids! Are you both ready to leave for your entrance exam?"

Mei and Joseph blinked and looked to each other. For a moment, they blinked, but then paled in horror, "AAHHHHHHHHH! THE EXAMS!"

Their U.A. entrance exam was today!

* * *

It was a mad dash, both Mei and Joseph struggling to get ready for the exams. They completely forgot themselves in the mad dash for getting ready, stripping in front of each other as they got their nicer clothes on and battled to get cleaned up in the bathroom. Both struggled to collect review notes for the ride there, but they lost half of them in the mad dash and had to sit next to each other to check each other's notes.

Joseph took deep breaths as he calmed down. If he did not stop panicking then the written portion of the exam was going to be a huge mess.

He and Mei had reviewed the material whenever they weren't working on the FullBottle Purifier. The subjects were pretty much the same. Only recent history changed from what he knew after Quirks began to appear, and biology changed to quiz on how certain kinds of Quirks could change the body. In fact, some of them rewrote the laws of biology in some cases.

It didn't mean he wasn't nervous. This was a school for superheroes after all.

The building itself was massive, looking like a giant massive H made of steel and glass while a ridiculously thick wall and iron doors guarded the entrance. Various young men and women were walking inside in various school uniforms along with various body shapes and visible Quirks.

"Holy…" Joseph gaped.

"I know!" Mei visibly trembled in excitement. "Let's go!"

Entering the school property, the pair followed signs and some attendants to where they could submit their exam paperwork so they could be counted among the attendants. Many of the students were milling about, talking about things. Some were quiet, silently preparing themselves. Others were in groups, trading notes for the written exam. Joseph also noticed that there were groups not taking it seriously, talking about what they were going to do as Pro Heroes as if they already passed the exam.

"Heeeey! Mei-chan! You actually came out!"

Mei and Joseph turned to see another girl, one wearing a school uniform which matched Mei's. She seemed like an average girl, although knowing Quirks, she may have had a potent power of her own.

"Ah, hey...uh...friend!" Mei smiled.

"Natsume!" the girl laughed, as if she was used to Mei forgetting her name. "So you made it. A few of us thought you were going to forget about the exam over one of your crazy inventions."

"She almost did," Joseph deadpanned. "Not that I can toss stones at that."

"Sounds like Mei-chan," Natsumi laughed. "Ah, are you a friend of Mei-chan's?"

Mei grinned proudly and pointed to Joseph, "This is JJ-kun! He's my Build-Up Boyfriend! We've already made our first baby!"

"PFFT!" Joseph choked on his own tongue from the shock. Build-Up Boyfriend!? Where the hell did she get that idea?!

"B-B-Boyfriend?! A baby?!" Natsumi gasped, scandalized yet eager to her gossip. "Mei-chan when did you get so advanced?!"

"It's not like that!" Joseph denied. "We worked together on an invention! An invention!"

"Oh, and he's living in my house with me too!" Mei confessed.

"A common law relationship?!" Natsumi gasped, almost gushing at the scandalous gossip. "Mei-chan, you've got to give me all the details!"

"Sure! The story's awesome!" Mei laughed as she and Natsumi walked for another group of girls.

"H-hey, don't tell her weird stories!" Joseph cried out, but in typical girl fashion, when the chance for gossip came up, they stopped listening. "Aw man… she's going to embarass me to death at this rate."

Joseph looked around, deciding to look for a vending machine or a spot he could sit down and review his notes before the exams. He didn't know the format so he wanted a chance to review one last time. As he turned to move, a blonde with an angry expression on his face bumped into him as he passed.

"Watch it!" he snapped as went on his way.

Joseph rubbed his shoulder as he muttered, "Asshole."

"You'll run into those types around here," a new voice spoke. This time it came from another young man with raised purple hair and a sleepy look in his eyes. "Cocky guys who have big and flashy Quirks thinking it makes them great."

"I know the type," Joseph huffed, looking at the blond's back. He shook his head and looked to his fellow examinee, "I'm Joseph Josuke."

"Hitoshi Shinso," the other student nodded. "Sure you want to talk to me? I have a reputation for a scary Quirk. Not like the heroic types here."

"Bah, a Quirk is only bad if people use it for that," Joseph chuckled. Hitoshi's eyes widened at the blunt statement "You want to be a hero, use it to be a hero. Who cares if it has a scary look."

"I can brainwash people who talk to me," Hitoshi bluntly retorted.

"Oh," Joseph blinked. He shrugged, "Well, that is kind of scary, but if you were going to do bad stuff with it, I don't think you'd have gotten this far."

Again, Hitoshi had to blink. Finally, he just shrugged, "Ah well. Thanks for the honest words. It's refreshing to know someone doesn't immediately think I'm a villain when I reveal my Quirk."

"No worries,"Joseph smiled. "Good luck to the both of us huh?"

"_Would all examinees please enter the auditorium in room 101 please? Would all examinees please enter auditorium 101._"

"That's our cue," Hitoshi nodded. "...good luck to you too."

"Thanks!"

* * *

The meeting in the auditorium was a briefing of the practical exam. There were five mock cities, _actual cities_, on the UA campus where the examinee groups would go to take the exam. It was seeded with mock villains, each of them in four types with different abilities and worth different point values. The goal of the test was to smash the robot villains and collect points based on what kind of villains were beaten. They came in values of one, two, and three points.

The final type of villain came at 0 points. It was in fact a hazard to the examinees since fighting it would forfeit any points the examinees had collected up until that point. Joseph figured it was supposed to test tactical knowledge of how to retreat when circumstances forced it.

After the speaker, a supposedly famous Pro Hero named President Mic, dismissed them, the examinees were given numbers and ushered to a corresponding bus which drove them out to the examination site.

"Oh...my...god!" Joseph gaped.

The simulation city the test would take place in...was an actual city! It actually looked like a real city past the gates which controlled the entry into them! The cities looked so authentic, Joseph would have believed it if someone told him that the school just cut entire swaths of the city out and moved them.

Stunned by the sight of the city for a moment, Joseph had to physically shake his head to get his senses back. Realizing he was at the cusp of the exam, he decided to quickly get his armor on. Retrieving his Build Driver, he strapped it on while the other students moved to a temporary change room to change it more appropriate clothes.

"**Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!**

"**Are You Ready?**"

"Henshin!"

"**Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!**"

The other examinees gasped as Joseph transformed into Build. It was a bit of an extreme transformation, even for a Quirk. What made it more shocking to them was that several of them recognized him from his sudden appearance in social media.

"Hey, it's that Kamen Rider Build guy!"

"The vigilante? I thought he got arrested."

"Nah! He got recruited by All-Might I heard."

"No way!"

"Yeah way! Check the clips on Facespace!"

"Oi!" the blond from the main building frowned, now dressed in a sleeveless green battle outfit. He scowled almost venomously at Build, like he was looking at something offensive, "You're that Build guy huh?"

"So?" Build retorted.

"Heh," the blond snorted. "Don't get cocky! You took out some no name villains so I'll admit you're worth something, like cannon fodder, but don't get the idea that you can outshine me!"

The blond's attitude rubbed Build the wrong way so he had a snarky response as well.

"How about we let our actions speak for ourselves, _buddy_?" Build retorted. "Talks' cheap. You wanna be number one, show us why you deserve it instead of bragging all over about it."

"Bet you have a weak ass Quirk if you need a suit like that," the blond pointed at Build's chest.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that," Build shrugged. "So I make up for a lame Quirk with having _skill_ and _ability_ instead of just being a one-trick pony."

"Grrr!" the blonde began to literally growl like a dog. "You saying something about my Quirk, wannabe?"

"Meh, if you think so, maybe it means you really are a one-trick pony," Build shrugged. "I certainly didn't say it."

* * *

While the examinees mingled below, Blood Stalk was sitting at the edge of a rooftop, looking down at them. Entering U.A. was easy, since this day was one of the few days where the gates were open and the security was lessened. No villain could enter even then, but Blood Stalk wasn't a known villain yet so he slipped in with the examinees.

There were no Quirkless people to use his Nebula Gas on but that was not why he was here. No, he was here to see how the biggest hero school got things done. So far, it seemed fine. Robot villains, fake cities, competition. That was all well and good, but that seemed more like a game. High stakes, but no real risk to it just the same.

Blood Stalk hummed as he looked down to the students, pondering before he got an idea. He looked to the doorway to the roof, "You know, this exam would be more fun if they have to face some _real _challenge."

"Grrrr…."

* * *

"_AAAAAAAAAND GO!_"

Present Mic's voice rang through the air as the doors to the fake city, confusing some of the examinees as to what was going on. Some, like Build, the asshole blond, and a few others who were paying attention instead of chatting, quickly got what the sudden shout meant. They immediately took off running into the city, leaving several confused applicants behind.

"_WHAT'S THE MATTER? THERE"S NO COUNTDOWN IN A REAL BATTLE! RUN RUUUUN!"_

Focusing power into the Rabbit Foot, Build overtook the rest of the examinees with each bounce he made. He scanned his surroundings for the faux villains, looking for points to collect.

He immediately got his first target when rolling out of a side street came green robot which stood on a wheel with arms that were miniguns with shields and a large number 1 painted on said arm.

"_Target acquired. Die hero!_" the robot droned, taking aim at Build.

"Oh no you don't!" Build declared, activating his Tank Foot. His speed increased as he came in close to the robot, which suddenly had to fix its aim with the sudden increase in speed. Once he got in closer, Build jumped up and kicked the robot in the head with his Rabbit Foot. The strike sent the robot end over end, crashing in a sparking heap.

"One point!" Build grinned. Well, that was easy!

"DIE!" Build looked at the cry and saw the jerk blond leaping from robot and robot, slapping them with his hands to cause explosions which wrecked the machines. He would then use the recoil from the blasts to launch himself at another target, hopping around like a violent little frog.

"...he's still a dick," Build muttered before he charged deeper into the city to find more targets.

The 1-Pointer villains were relatively easy, able to be taken down with some heavy strikes. The 2-Pointer villains, scorpion-like robots, were faster and had better targeting systems, making them slightly harder to bring down. The 3-Pointers were almost like walking tanks, hunched over gorilla-like machines armed with homing missiles.

It was one of these 3-Pointer robots smashing through a building which Build found himself confronting. He could quickly tell the thick armor would make it tough for his RabbiTank form to break through even if he could avoid the missiles.

"Alright, let's try this out," Build said as he replaced the Rabbit FullBottle with the Gorilla FullBottle.

"**Gorilla!**"

"**Are You Ready?"**

"Build Up!"

He turned the Crank Lever and summoned the Gorilla Halfbody which replaced the Rabbit Halfbody. When the blast of purified Nebula Gas erupted from the seams, Build began running towards the robot while turning the Crank Lever with his oversized fist for his next test.

**"Ready Go! Vortex Attack!"**

Build sped up with his Tank Foot and he reared back the Gorilla Muscle Glove to throw a powerful punch. With the 3-Pointer being so slow, the fist smashed into the robot's face to crumple its main processor. The machine quickly erupted in an explosion as Build came to a stop behind it, his arm trembling from the impact.

"Need something for the recoil," Build murmured. "It'll give Mei-chan something to do."

Explosions ripped up part of the city in the distance, making Build realize more students got ahead to get first crack at the villains hiding ahead. "Okay, have to keep going."

"**Rabbit!**"

* * *

Inside an observation booth, the teachers of U.A. were looking at the applicants undertaking the exam. The points system for destroying villains was part of the scoring system, but the teachers were also looking at other aspects to the potential , agility, judgement, and fighting prowess, all of those aspects were going to decide which class the students would get into provided that they passed with the minimum required number of points.

"Isn't that the vigilante that was on the news?"

"Do you think it's fair to allow an applicant to use that kind of equipment during the exam?"

"Why not? He maintains it, builds more for himself, modifies it when needed. That's all in the rules. Students can bring all the equipment they feel they need. Most just rely on their Quirks so we don't see much of it."

"Besides, the kid doesn't have a Quirk so in order to keep up with the others he _needs_ the equipment."

"What?! He's Quirkless and he's doing so well?!"

"That's what makes him a contender if you ask me. He has to adapt on the fly and play it smart. He doesn't have some cheat code ability like most Quirks are, so he's got to be smart and adapt to situations. If anything, he's got the advantage since he's had to focus on skill and ability instead of some easy to use Quirk."

"Yes, but does he have the true core necessity to be a hero? That's what our next little test is going to determine."

"Wait...what's that in monitor 3, part of field A?"

"What the-?!"

* * *

Several examinees were tearing through a cluster of robots, all of them eager to get the points they needed to pass. For a few cases, only the fact there was an ironclad rule against attacking each other kept them from interfering with the others. Not that a few weren't willing to try if they didn't suspect that the examiners were watching.

As a 1-Pointer got crushed beneath an explosive palm, everyone began looking for the next target. Preparing to move, they got blindsided as a wall of a building exploded outwards, sending debris they had to shield themselves from.

Emerging from the hollow building was a large humanoid, easily matching Mount Lady in size. It appeared to be a robot, covered mostly in yellow square panels while the deepest portions were blue. It's right hand ended in a sharp sword while its left had long tube-like fingers. Finally, it's head was a massive yellow cube with with deeper blue square matches acting as a face.

"GRAAAAAAAHHHH!" the strange robot roared, glaring down at the cluster of aspiring heroes. Unbeknownst to the heroes, it wasn't one of the exam robots, but was in fact the Square Smash, loaded to the brim with Nebula Gas to make it larger.

Sadly, the examinees were completely unaware of what they were looking at.

"Hey, what is that thing?"

"Maybe it's a bonus villain worth bonus points!"

"But we weren't told this!"

"Duh! Heroes have to deal with the unexpected all the time!"

"IT'S MINE!" the explosive blond roared as he lunged at the Smash.

The Square Smash grunted and cut its sword across the ground with its blade. Almost immediately, the ground rose up in a number of square pillars, making the angry examinee crash against it. The blond just snarled and slammed his palms into it, causing another explosion which crumbled that portion of the wall.

As the hole came, he prepared to lunge and bring down the robot, but it's massive fast came through the smoke and smashed into him, knocking him flying back to the ground with a pained grunt.

"Damn! It's a tough one! It fights back!"

"It must be worth a lot!"

"Asshole had his shot! Mine!"

"RAAAAAHHHHH!" the Smash roared and swiped it's sword, causing the buildings around it to be cut up into cubes which hovered in the air. The Smash then thrust at the group, making the cubes fly at them.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOM!*

* * *

The roar echoed in the distance at it made Build freeze for a moment. That didn't sound like any kind of robot to him. There was also no electronic warble to make it seem like it was a recording to make a larger robot scarier.

"Something's not right," he muttered, turning and running for the source.

Running past some of the taller buildings, he came to a stop when he saw piles of rubble and a very, VERY, large Square Smash roaring in the middle of it all.

"Oh shit!" Build summarily gaped.

He dashed towards the scene of the fight, noticing several of his fellow examinees were scattered among the rubble of the destroyed buildings. Fortunately, it seemed most of them were already up and were either running away from the Smash, or were jumping around it, smashing at it with their Quirks. The explosive blonde was at the forefront, launching himself up at the Smash's head, trying to blast it's face off.

"DIE! DIE YOU HUNK OF SCRAP!"

"Well, at least he's being useful," Build sighed. He then stepped forward to lend a hand, but stopped when some of the rubble moved. "Huh?"

Coming up from the rubble came another examinee. She, as it was revealed, had slightly curled shoulder length hair with a green tint to it. She was wearing what seemed like a track suit, although it was a little torn up from the destruction the Smash had caused.

She was also missing her right arm.

"Oh my god!" Build cried,dashing over to the girl's side. He quickly checked her over for other injuries, but other than bruises and a cut or two, it was her arm which was the major problem. Glancing, he did find her arm at her feet, fortunately not buried by the rubble. "Hang on, I'll get you to the faculty for help!"

"H-huh?" the girl blinked, perhaps dazed by the hits she took.

Build swiftly scooped up the arm and passed it to her, which she absently took, apparently dazed by a blow to the head or something. He then scooped her up in a bridal carry, causing her to yelp in surprise. Once she was secured, Build activated the treads of his Tank Foot and began roaring away from the scene of the battle.

"H-hey, hold on!" the girl yelped. "I can-!"

"You're missing an arm so no you can't!" Build called back, turning corners and taking any shortcut he could see to get back to the main gates of the fake city. Coming up to the gates, he saw what seemed to be a man made out of blocks of concrete come to the front.

"This girl needs medical attention! Her arm's been severed!" Build snapped.

The concrete man's eyes widened, "I'll take her immediately! You stay here while more of the faculty begins to evacuate the other examinees! The teachers will handle that villain inside!"

A loud explosion came from inside the city and Build saw something larger and green just poking out from behind several of the buildings, ominously close to where the Square Smash had been rampaging. Build's heart stopped when he saw it. Had the Square Smash gotten even bigger?

"No time!" Build snapped back, passing the girl into the concrete man's arms. "We need all hands on deck before that thing gets even bigger! Just get back here as soon as you can!"

"Wait-!" the Pro Hero called, but Build was already roaring back into the city on his Tank Foot. The hero sighed, but grinned slightly at the moral fortitude the would-be hero was showing. Shaking it off, he looked to the injured girl, "Okay, let's get you to Recovery Girl."

"B-But I'm fine!" the girl sputtered. "Listen, my Quirk is…!"

* * *

Build returned to the scene of the battle and found himself somewhat surprised. Rather than the Square Smash having gotten bigger, the 0-Pointer villain had chosen that moment to rise up and it began attacking the Smash with vigor. It punched and slammed the enlarged Smash, although it was missing several cube-shaped portions of its body as the Smash fought back, cutting out portions of it to either throw at it as a projectile, or swing at the examinees that were still peppering it with whatever force their Quirks allowed.

"You know, as cool as this is, that Smash needs to be stopped," Build said to himself. He pondered his options for a moment before he quickly decided on a course of action. "Step 1: get the Smash away from the others."

Build summoned the Drill Crusher before he likewise charged into the fray. Ignoring the 0-Pointer, he came upon the Smash itself. He jumped up with the Rabbit Foot before striking at it's back several times, making it grunt. A kick from the Tank Foot made it stumble slightly before the 0-Pointer punched it, making the kaijin fall back or risk losing it's balance.

"Hey, over here Smash!" Build yelled, landing on a nearby rooftop. "Hey, what threat are a bunch of kids compared to someone who has Nebula Gas too?" To punctuate his point, he converted his weapon to its gun mode before firing several shots at the Smash.

"HEY! I SAID IT'S MINE! DON'T STEAL MY POINTS!" yelled the explosion-user from below.

"OH SHUT UP YOU IDIOT! THIS ISN'T PART OF THE EXAM!" Build yelled back. He fired more shots, aiming for the Smash's head to make sure he kept its attention.

"GRAH!" the Smash bellowed, turning to face him. The 0-Pointer lunged for its open back, but the Smsh was having none of it. With a bellow, it's swung it's sword and the robots head exploded into numerous small cubes. The construct fell, letting the Smash focus on Build, Nebula Gas starting to seep from several points in its armor.

"Nebula Gas...oh no," Build looked down to see several of the examinees were still close to the Smash's legs, trying to attack joints to bring it down. He recalled being told that the gas the Strong Smash gave off had all but crippled anyone with a Quirk that inhaled it. If the Square Smash erupted in the gas with its current size, it could cripple everyone around it and possibly permanently with the quantities inside its enlarged size!

He needed to take it out now. He took out the Gorilla FullBottle, shook it a couple of times, before inserting it into his weapon.

"**Ready Go!**"

"Step 2: Break the enhanced armor of this Smash over a vulnerable spot," Build aimed his loaded weapon at the Square Smash and pulled the trigger.

"**Vortex Break!**"

The Drill Crusher fired a giant energy projectile in the shape of a fist at the Square Smash. The force of the energy punch sent the Square Smash skidding backward and away from the examinees. Using his Rabbit Foot, Build roofhopped after the Smash.

Coming to another building, Build saw the Square Smash clutching it's head. Cracks riddled the cube and Nebula Gas was 'bleeding' from it, rising into the air uncontrolled rather than venting out of spots which would risk the other examinees.

"Step 3: Strike the new vulnerable spot! This should finish it off!"

Build turned his Driver's Crank Lever rapidly, pumping the essence from his FullBottles as they went through the device.

"**Ready Go!**"

"Now the laws of victory are set!"

Build leaped into the air and performed his signature Rider Kick. The graph appeared and captured the Smash at the bottom, letting Build reach the apex before coming down like he was being fired from a tank.

"**Vortex Finish! Yeah!**"

"HEI-YAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

He struck the Smash directly in it's cracked face, shattering the faceplate and letting a cloud of Nebula Gas erupt from the open wound. Fortunately, the gas did not have long to spread before it ignited from Build's attack, exploding along with the Square Smash itself with a bellow of pain.

Build came down, landing in a crouch on the street, breathing heavily. Behind him, the Square Smash gave a groan, much like a falling mountain of metal, before it crashed onto the street, cratering it.

"Whew," Build sighed, standing up. He couldn't help but admire what he had just done, seeing the smoking body of the Square Smash, large as it was, just lying there in defeat. He then remembered himself and hastily snatched up an empty FullBottle, pointing it at the Smash.

The bottle did its work as the Smash's body dissolved into colored Nebula Gas which was pulled inside. The massive bulk of the kajin was soon gone, leaving what seemed to be a completely ordinary person in the middle of the crater where it sat.

"Just one? A monster that size I would have thought I'd get two," Build huffed, looking at the FullBottle he just filled.

"OI!" a loud voice snapped. Turning, Build saw the blonde with the explosive hands stomping up to him. "Those points were mine, damn tinker toy!"

"Seriously? After all this and you _still_ think it was part of the exam?" Build sighed. "Sheesh. Learn to pay attention instead of trying to blow everything up, will you?"

"GRRR! You got balls talking to me like that!" the blond shouted at Build. "What kind of Quirk do you have!? No way it's better than mine!"

"Quirk?" Build cocked an eyebrow. How'd talking back equate to comparing Quirks? The guy must have a complex of some kind over it. "I got no Quirk. I'm 100 percent _Quirkless_." He made sure to sound proud of that fact.

The blonde's eyes widened in shock, "Wh-what?! NO QUIRK?! Bullshit!"

"Believe what you want," Build shrugged. "Now since we have some time left, I want to smash some more robots to get more points." He ran his fingers up one of his antennae and flicked his wrist to give a wave. "See ya!"

Build soon sped away.

"Ah...hey!" the blonde snapped. "DAMMIT!"

* * *

Unbeknownst to everyone, even the teachers who were focused on the Smash, Blood Stalk had watched the entire battle with a discerning eye. Any cameras which were near him had been shot out, but their destruction would have been written off as antics during the exam.

Despite one of his minions having been destroyed and without even bringing down any of the examinees, he wasn't frustrated. He didn't expect the Smash to win despite it's size. Too many would-be heroes were around, not to mention the Pro Heroes who were watching the exam. No, today was about gathering information and not making a move.

And what information he did manage to find…

"So, it really is you, Build," he pondered, watching where Build was running to squeeze in a few more points for his test. He had wondered if the 'Kamen Rider Build' that Facespace was talking about was just some Pro Hero analogue with a similar Quirk to Build's powers. Now it turned out that this Build was the real deal.

"What fun," Blood Stalk snickered before he turned and began heading for his exit. His job was done.

* * *

**U.A. High School - Cafeteria**

"Man, that was intense," Joseph sighed, massaging the back of his neck.

The aftermath of the exam had seen Joseph being debriefed by Nezu. He had to explain what happened and theories of where the Smash had come from. The victim was secretly taken in by Recovery Girl, the school nurse. Fortunately, he got to keep the FullBottle he got from the Smash. Of course, he had to keep the Smash a secret and keep up the belief that it had been a surprise villain for the exam. Joseph didn't mind, understanding the need to keep it on the low that U.A. had been infiltrated and attacked by the Smash.

The students were allowed to change, shower, and calm down and rest for a few moments before the written exam would start. Joseph found himself waiting in the cafeteria, headed by a Pro Hero named Lunch Rush.

"Wonder how Mei did," Joseph muttered as he set his lunch tray down.

"Oh, hey! You're Build, right?" someone suddenly spoke to him. Joseph turned to see who had spoken and found himself looking at the girl he had rescued in the middle of the exam. More surprising was how she was waving at him.

"Bwuh...but...your arm!" Joseph gaped at the girl he had rescued. He distinctly remembered her arm being severed at the bicep in the chaos of the Square Smash's rampage.

"Oh, I'm fine!" the girl smiled brightly, flexing her arm. "My Quirk lets me be able to be cut up like that and control the pieces to come back together. And if I lose them, I can just grow them back. Thanks for looking out for me though!"

"Oh…" Joseph flushed, now feeling a little silly for flipping out like he did.

"Hey, you didn't know that," the girl laughed. She approached Joseph before she leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek, making him blush brightly. "Gotta admit, a girl really likes being carried like a princess by a knight in shining armor. So...thanks!" she finished with a rosy blush of her own.

"Heh...you're welcome," Joseph chuckled.

"HEEEEEEY! Build-Up Boyfriend!" Mei's voice suddenly rang out. Joseph turned and Mei skidded to a halt. "Hey don't think I missed that! Playing the dashing hero again?"

"Mei-chan…" Joseph flushed.

The girl Joseph rescued blinked, but then got a little flustered, "Ah, wait, are you two dating?" She quickly tried to do damage control while jumping to conclusions. "I-I-I was just thanking him for rescuing me and all that! I wasn't trying to make a play yet, I mean I wasn't!"

Mei blinked at the flustered girl, "Oh, so you wanna date him huh?" She laughed. "Well go ahead! You can borrow him for a while! Just bring him back in one piece! I need him for my long nights too."

The girl blushed brightly, her mind whirling with implications of what Mei said. Something which hinted at being so taboo, but somehow thrilling despite that. Joseph likewise blushed, wondering if Mei even knew what she just said, or rather, knew how the words she chose to say could be interpreted.

Nearby, a young man with blonde hair that had a black lightning streak in in and a short boy with purple balls growing out of his head gaped as they overhead the conversation.

"Did...did we just hear that glorious sentence?" asked the blonde.

"We did. I thought it was only a legend!" the short student agreed.

"THE LEGENDARY OPEN RELATIONSHIP?!" both cried out in shock and awe. Both of them were promptly ignored save for some girls who overheard them and gave them dirty looks.

The girl blinked, now flustered a little, "O-oh, well, um, maybe I might then. Ah, my name's Setsuna Tokage." she smiled prettily. "Thanks again for rescuing me. You're totally my hero today."

"You're welcome," Joseph smiled.

"And I'm Mei Hatsume!" Mei grinned to the girl. "Say, I heard your name on the recommendations rumors though. Why are you in the test?"

Setsuna smiled sheepishly, showing she had kind of cute jagged teeth, "Well, yes, but they still needed to test my abilities to see which class they would put me in. So I have to take the practical exams just like everyone else. I just get to skip the written exam."

Joseph slumped, "Damn...I forgot about that."

"We'll be okay," Mei shrugged. "Compared to the practical, it's a piece of cake!"

* * *

The written test was not nearly as harrowing as the physical one, so Joseph left U.A. feeling like he had a good chance of passing. He didn't have much time to let his thoughts wander before Mei grabbed him by the arm and dragged him home, insisting on putting their 'baby' through its paces for a new FullBottle.

Telling Mei about the Smash after the exam _may_ have been a mistake.

What they got was the Comic FullBottle. There was still no Best Match but it at least provided Joseph a new series of combinations he could take advantage of. It also provided a short sword which was dubbed the 4Koma Ninpoutou. It was a mostly yellow sword with a purple hilt and portions of the blade looked like comic panels of ninja arts. The tip of the blade was a pen Joseph could use to to draw things into existence, but so far the panels were inert, making the pair believe that it's full potential could be used if paired with its Best Match, likely a ninja-theme FullBottle.

As the talk of Build's abilities continued, Joseph explained to Mei what a Kamen Rider was. Heroes of Justice and all that, although Mei just interpreted it as a legacy of Heroes from before Quirks and Pro Heroes became so widespread and mainstream. She thought that was cool, and thought it was awesome that more of them relied on mechanical gear and tools rather than Quirks.

He also mentioned that Kamen Riders usually rode into battle on motorbikes, thus why they were called 'Riders'. That seemed to make the girl's gear turn in her brain. She then got that mad grin on her lips before she dove into her tools and notes with a cackle. He figured she got an idea for a bike for him, but she was in too much of a frenzy to properly explain herself.

But that was days ago, and now they were in routine.

*Crank, crank, crank*

Build sat in GorillaTank form as Mei was working on his arm, tinkering with it so the recoil wouldn't be as bad. They hadn't been able to get it done before as Mei still had to go to school (the school year hadn't ended yet when the U.A. exams took place) and her focus when not in school was the big devices like the Purifier or what would become his Rider Machine.

"The shock absorbers were a joke! No way could it take continuous strain. You'd need to be special forces or something to constantly use it!" Mei huffed, almost indignant. "This is why standard issue sucks so bad! Nothing about it is standard!"

"Well, at least I have you to help keep this stuff from turning on me," Build shrugged.

"Of course you are! Now hold still!" Mei grinned, continuing to use her socket wrench to tighten the casing around the gauntlet. "Okay, give it a few swings."

Build stood up before he took some experimental swings with his arm, "Pretty fluid. Still lightweight so I can move in it if I need to. Might have to hit some things before we can see about the recoil."

"Second test," Mei nodded, moving to find a target. "So, I was wondering, what are we going to do if more Smash show up? I mean, if we try to hunt them down, we'll get tagged as vigilantes or something."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Build remarked. If he had Pro Hero status, he wouldn't have a problem. He really didn't want to be branded a vigilante criminal but there was nobody else who could beat the Smash and take their essence to restore their victims. Nebula Gas was a mysterious substance and a Smash could only temporarily be brought down before the gas eventually revitalized it and it got back up again.

"And we also need to figure out who's making these Smash," Mei added. That was another thing. The Smash did not just pop out randomly. Someone was purposely turning people into Smash. The common denominator so far was that both victims were Quirkless. Also, once they regained consciousness, the victims suffered from amnesia so they could not provide any information. Hopefully, it was not permanent.

"Found one!" she announced, bringing up a cobbled punching target. A quick noise from her tools announced her bolting it to the floor before she stepped aside. "Okay, start punching!"

Build nodded and began testing his gauntlet, punching into the target. He absently noted that the recoil was much less, meaning the adjustments had worked. Instead, his mind was more on the fact that the Smash were in this world at all. How were people getting dosed with Nedula Gas? Were there pockets of it popping up? A Pandora's Box? Or was it something darker, namely someone who was actively dosing the Quirkless so to make Smash minions?

"Mei! Joseph-kun! You two have mail!" the voice of Mei's mother rang up from the stairs.

Mei suddenly dropped what she was doing and dashed for the stairs, Joseph just following at a casual pace. By the time he got to the stairs, Mei was already running down, shoving the envelope into his hands, "Hurry, open it!"

"Okay, okay," Joseph chuckled. He quickly found where to open his U.A. letter. When he pulled out the contents, he stopped as he saw he wasn't holding an actual letter, but a small mechanical device of some kind. "What the-?"

The device immediately came to life, producing a holographic screen in the air. On it was the man made of concrete Joseph recalled passing Setsuna to. He had later learned that this was the was the Pro Hero Cementoss, a hero who had the ability to control concrete, making him a practical force of nature inside a city.

"_Ah, hello there, applicant,_" Cementoss bowed his head in greeting. "_I'm reporting to you about the results of your entrance exams for U.A. High School._"

Joseph couldn't help but gulp in anticipation. Did he make it in?

"_Your marks in the written exam were well done, although I would brush up on history and biology if I were you,_" Cementoss continued. Joseph winced, expecting that. "_Your practical exam results are rather promising._"

The screen changed, revealing a chart. Names were listed on it, showing villain scores, but also a second row marked 'rescue'.

"_Now then_," Cementos began to explain. "_Your villain scores are acceptable at 50 points. Some felt you may have scored higher, but you and I both know that you were distracted by that Smash creature. Although you dealt with it well, many felt it would be unfair to give you extra points since your exam was the only place such a creature appeared._"

"Was kind of expecting that," Joseph sighed. The other students were told it was part of the exam, but in reality, that was just a cover story. He hoped he had gotten extra points, but it seemed the impartial judges decided otherwise.

"_Fortunately, your actions while the attack took place has_ _granted you a boon_," Cementoss began to smile proudly. "_We at U.A. were grading you on more than just your combat ability. Heroes do more than fight after all. We protect the people and rescue them from danger. So for that, we also grade students on any of the benevolent actions. Namely, protecting or rescuing others in the exam._"

Joseph's eyes widened in shock.

"_Now then, let us do a tally," _Cementos smiled, using a pointer to highlight Joseph's score. "_The most obvious rescue was of Tokage-san, assuming she had suffered a crippling injury. Your first action was to evacuate what you thought was a critically injured victim. For that, you earned another 60 rescue points._"

"That's 110 points!" Joseph grinned.

"_Some of the judges have felt you may have earned extra rescue points by distracting the Smash and luring it away from your fellow examinees,_" Cementoss continued. "_Considering they were still combat ready, or were running away, we decided to award you another 10 points._" Cementoss collapsed the pointer with another smile. "_So congratulations. You managed to score 1st in the exam and have passed. Welcome to U.A. High School. We look forward to seeing you on the first day of class._"

"WOO HOO!" Joseph cheered, throwing his hands in the air.

"_With your current roster of abilities, it has been decided that your versatility and equipment will see you better suited in the Support Course, learning how to deal with natural disasters, give support for frontline heros, and other facets of hero work which are just as vital as those who actually do combat with villains," _Cementos finished. "_We expect you to be a credit to U.A. just like the other new heros and those who came before._"

The hologram finished, and Joseph felt like he could shout in joy. He was beaten to it though as he realized that Mei was giving off a girlish squeal, spinning around and giving off rapid speech which was barely heard when she wasn't squealing.

"I'minI'minIpassedthetestIsawPowerLoaderI'mgonnamakesomanybabiesI'mgonnadomybestEEE!"

"Um, breathe there Mei-chan," Joseph grinned.

"EEEEEE!" Mei continued to squeal before she glomped onto Joseph, knocking them both over in a crash of discarded equipment. She continued to clutch Joseph tightly, "I'm so happy! My big chance is here! I could just kiss you!"

Joseph's face lit up, "Uhhh…?"

Mei's mother, somehow not hearing the noise in the basement, asked, "So, is it good news?"

**To Be Continued...**

A/N: Okay, part 2 of the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Don't own Kamen Rider or My hero Academia

**My Kamen Rider Academia**

**By Ten-Faced Paladin**

**Chapter 3: School Days**

The first day of classes finally came for the pair of Joseph and Mei. Mei was trembling in excitement, her uniform slightly scruffy since she had jammed every piece of her tech she could fit into her pack and her pockets. Her excitement came from know the Pro Hero Power Loader, a hero known for building amazing machines to augment his Quirk and tactics. Mei was hoping to show off her machines and get Power Loader's help to make her 'babies' even better than before.

Joseph himself was slightly nervous, wondering just what he was getting into. He knew he was probably looking at a normal set of classes, but what else could he expect in the Support Course? Would the other students accept a Quirkless person in their class? Mei seemed OK with him but he was aware of the prejudice and discrimination that Quirkless people suffered in this society.

"What are we waiting for?" Mei grinned, looking at Joseph. She quickly grabbed his arm and began to pull him along, "Let's go!"

"Waugh!" Joseph yelped as Mei pulled him, all but dashing for the doors so they could reach the first class. Despite her figure, Mei had a serious set of muscles on her from pounding metal and cranking bolts all day.

"We just got here! We have time!" Joseph yelped as he was pulled along.

"I can't wait! We have to get there now! Power Loader might be there!" Mei squealed back.

Somehow, Joseph felt this was going to be a regular thing between them.

* * *

They received their new student packages, mostly real ID cards so they could pass through the security gates and other student only areas. It turned out that the press often tried to sneak in or harassed the students, trying to get a glimpse inside of the school to get a story about the hero teachers or just try to find something they could write a good or even sleazy story about.

They found their classroom, which was part of another building connected to manufacturing facilities and seemed more like a regular school setting rather than the outrageous settings which came with the main building on campus.

Joseph found himself in Class 1-H, a surprisingly spacious classroom with tech posters and tool sets and cabinets for materials all around. Mei forced him to sit next to her, still trembling in her seat in excitement. Being surrounded by so many fellow inventors was just one of the best things in her mind.

Joseph had did research into the Support Course of U.A. It was geared towards creating hero equipment, keeping heroes supplied with vital gear, but also ways to keep villains trapped for incarceration. To be precise, they were the heroes that worked behind the scenes to make sure the heroes who worked on the field could perform efficiently.

Some went on to be public figures with fame as heroes. If he had to draw a parallel, the Support Course took the way to helping heroes with skill sets like Batman or Iron Man, the heroes who focused on building tech for themselves or their allies.

As the students chatted, in some cases bragged about things they build or what school they went to, the door opened as their teacher came in.

He was shirtless, wearing thick gloves and boots with jeans. The fingers of the gloves were cut out, showing he had orange shovel-like claws on his fingertips. His face was mostly concealed by a yellow helmet shaped like a backhoe claw. His mouth was visible as well as some spiky orange hair.

"Power Loader!" Mei squealed under her breath, her trembling getting fiercer.

"Mei-chan, calm down before you pass out or something," Joseph tried to calm his friend down.

"Okay, okay, calm down everyone," the Pro Hero, Power Loader, announced. "Take your seats now. Class is about to begin," Everyone quickly obeyed, going to assigned seating. Joseph and Mei were next to each other by a stroke of luck. "Okay, welcome to U.A.'s Support Course. I'll be your homeroom teacher, Power Loader. Starting today, I'm going to whip you all into shape and making the cutting edge gear the meat heads on the front lines need to survive."

Power Loader took a piece of chalk and drew a diagram of what looked like hero tools like utility belts and other things, all next to a hero figure with question marks over his head. Once finished, he looked to the class, "Okay, I know a lot of you were probably hoping to get into the hero courses and are disappointed. There are a few every year so don't be afraid to complain to me after class. I've heard it all before."

"Pft. As if I'd go anywhere else," Mei rolled her eyes.

"Now then, you are all here because you showed talent and abilities with tech which means your skills can be used to build yourselves into heroes instead of using Quirks to make a big show of it," Power Loader continued. "And let's face it, most of the heroes you see on the news or doing movies or shows, most of them barely have a clue on how to really build or maintain their gear and instead rely on supporters, namely us, to build it for them so they can be a little more versatile in the fields and not so predictable. We can't all smash stuff out of the way like All Might."

Plenty of the students grinned in pride, seeing that they weren't being just shunted aside to some side courses since they didn't have the flashy and heroic Quirks that people liked to see on the news. Power Loader reminded them of a reason to have pride in themselves and their abilities, being vital to the duty of heroes just as much as the flashy heroes were.

"Glad you got it," Power Loader grinned. "Okay, let's take a look at the syllabus and what you're all in for. Passing the entrance exam was just the first step. It's not going to get any easier."

Power Loader went to explain what they were going to be learning. There was plenty for a normal education, including all of the subjects that high school students needed. On top of that, there were classes set for learning all sorts of manufacturing, types of building, as well as training with the equipment in various ways.

It seemed to suit Joseph just fine, especially since he relied on his own equipment instead of a Quirk.

During free time between classes, Joseph used the time to get to know his classmates. A lot of them seemed nice enough. Plenty of them had Quirks which seemed geared more towards building, maintaining, or other things to do more with a hero's gear than going out and being heroes directly, so they were in the right place to take advantage of it.

"So, wait, _you're_ that Kamen Rider Build guy?" asked one male student, his hair made of wires and cords. "Wow! I saw you on Facespace! I didn't know you were applying for U.A.!"

"You actually got to meet All Might too!" another girl who had circuit patterns on her hands. "Is it true he recruited you directly?"

"He, well, vouched for me, so I guess he did," Joseph rubbed the back of his neck. It seemed his brief internet fame hadn't ended quite yet.

"So why kind of tech do you use? How's it help your Quirk?" asked a third student, trying to discreetly see if Joseph had brought the Build Driver with him.

"Well, it's powered by Nebula Gas," Joseph began, trying to slip around mentioning any kind of Quirk or lack of it. "By purifying pockets of it, depending on on the source after the impurities are removed, it can generate different sets of Halfbody armor which gives me different abilities. If they are a Best Match, I get a power boost."

"How does that work?" asked the circuit girl. "I saw your first suit was rabbit and tank. How do those pair up? They have nothing in common."

"That...I...don't know. They just do," Joseph shrugged. "My best guess, they compensate for each other. Rabbit is fast with light attacks, but Tank is slow and its attacks are strong. Put them together and they even out."

"Cool! Do you have any others?" asked wire-hair.

"We're starting a collection," Mei cut in smugly. She even produced photos and sketches of the FullBottles in question along with the Halfbodies, much to the admiration of the trio. Mei never passed up a chance to brag about projects she spearheaded, or played a major role in. "See? We've got Gorilla and Comic so far."

"Can I get one of these with an autograph? My little brother turned into a fan," asked circuit girl.

"Um...I guess?"

"And don't forget his awesome technician Best Match, Mei Hatsume!" Mei laughed, standing proudly.

"So where do you get this Nebula Gas? Do you generate it with your Quirk?" asked another student. "If so, could you spare me some? I'd love the chance to experiment with some if you can do all this with it."

"The Nebula Gas..." How was Joseph supposed to answer that?

"Nah, there's a villain out there that's making or pumping it somehow," Mei waved off the question bluntly. "JJ-kun got his gear from one of their lackeys, called the Smash, and he got his first taste of hero work and never let it go! He's been investigating during his vigilante stint and those villains he fought were Smash, which just belch the stuff out like a bad smell." Mei's grin grew as she got into the explanation. "It's got nasty effects unpurified too! You guys saw how it put down Kamui Woods and Mount Lady? It's nasty until it gets purified by our baby!"

"Uh...Mei...a secret?" Joseph grimaced.

"OOOOOH! First days out and he made his first villain rival? A nameless and faceless one too!" the third student gasped.

"So cool!" grinned the wire-haired boy.

"So the drama!" added the circuit girl, caught up in the story.

"Wait, what?" Joseph blinked. Were they all pulled away from the Quirk question just like that? Did everyone in the course have ADD or something? He looked to Mei who winked at him.

* * *

**Lunch Period - Cafeteria**

Joseph went to the cafeteria to grab lunch. He looked around for a place to sit and spotted a familiar face sitting alone at a table. Carrying his tray, he went over and sat down beside the lone person.

"Hey," Joseph greeted. "Hitoshi, right? Can I sit here?"

The purple-haired boy blinked in surprise, but hesitantly nodded, "...sure."

"Thanks," Joseph nodded, taking a seat. "A little nervous, being one of the new people. Glad I found a familiar face."

"I can agree with that," Hitoshi nodded. "I'm a little surprised you're still willing to talk to me. Once word of my Quirk got out in my class, more people began avoiding me."

"The brainwashing thing?" Joseph frowned. "Meh, I'm not too scared about it. Like I said at the exams, if you're here, then you're planning to do good with it so why be afraid?"

"And right there I could use it, but you're still not scared," Hitoshi shook his head. "Then again, you'd have to be real brave if you went into these exams without a Quirk."

Joseph grimaced, "How'd...you find out about that?"

"Blonde guy with explosive hands was ranting about it and I overheard," Hitoshi answered. "Ranted about Build. I look on the internet too and I recognized the brief glimpse it had of you."

"Ah," Joseph gulped. "Well, glad you're taking it so well."

Hitoshi shook his head, "I know what it's like being discriminated against. People keep acting like I'm destined to be a villain because of my Quirk. The fact you don't have a Quirk and you still got in must mean you really want to be a hero. I can respect that kind of drive."

"Thanks," Joseph grinned with relief. "So you got into the Hero Course? I slipped into Support since my skills deal with making components for my armor and supplementing my fighting skills with them."

"No, I got sent to General Studies. The practical exam is not really suited for me to use my Quirk," Hitoshi shook his head. "And the Support Course sounds perfect for your abilities. Learning to build and maintain your gear is important since you rely so much on it. We can just join the Heroic Course later."

"Darn right," Joseph laughed, making Hitoshi smile back. "Anyway, Hitoshi, I know your Quirk has potential but what happens if you are in a situation when it does not work or a villain can neutralize it?" Brainwashing was powerful but people with stronger wills could resist it.

"I've considered that. I know there are Quirks that can mess with sound. Mine only works if someone hears me talk to them and responds to my actual voice too, so no megaphones," Hitoshi nodded. "As for ones who can neutralize it? Haven't met one yet, but I am taking some martial arts to help me fight back if I get jumped before I can speak. I can't rely on my Quirk to get me out of everything."

"Good thinking," Joseph agreed.

"Anyway, since I shared, could you tell me about your suit?" asked Hitoshi. "I heard on the blogs about you after the exam that you could interchange pieces of it to get new abilities."

"Blogs?" Joseph blinked, but shrugged. "Okay, it's powered by something called Nebula Gas which when I purify it-!"

"Hey, JJ-kun! Who's your friend?" Mei's voice rang as she approached, interrupting the conversation.

"Speaking of technical," Joseph grinned. "Hitoshi, this is Mei Hatsume, my self-proclaimed Best Match Mechanic. Mei, this is Hitoshi Shinso, someone I met during the exams."

"Awww! You got me a nickname too!" Mei grinned like a happy kid. "Just like my Build Up Boyfriend to do!"

Hitoshi looked to the two of them, "Are you two dating? I kind of don't want to be the third wheel here."

"Gck! No, it's just a nickname thing she started!" Joseph choked out.

"Mn" Mei nodded with a smile.. "Isn't it cute? He needed one since we're such good friends!"

"Friends. Okay," Hitoshi nodded. "Anyway, want to compare notes about how our classes went?"

"Sure!" Mei grinned, taking her seat. "We got Power Loader as our teacher. Who'd you get?"

"Well…" Hitoshi began to grin.

"YOU!"

Everyone turned to who had yelled and Joseph saw it was the explosive blond he had met back at the exam. He had a deep scowl on his face and was stomping towards the table with a head full of steam.

"So, he got in," Joseph muttered.

The blond marched up to Joseph with an angry expression. Everyone stepped back to make way for him as they were scared of him. Once he was at Joseph's table, he slammed his palms on it.

"How da hell did a Quirkless loser like you get into U.A.?!" he snapped. "This is a school for heroes, not wannabes!"

"Coz that isn't your call?" Joseph retorted. "Also, are you blind or did you not see how I beat that thing in the exam?"

"Without that suit you're nothing," the blond spat.

"And without your Quirk, are you any better?" The retort made the blond growl and clench his hands, sparks starting to ignite in his palm in small pops.

"I suggest you leave," Hitoshi spoke up.

"Who asked you!?" the blond snapped.

Joseph blinked. Wasn't Hitoshi's Brainwashing Quirk activated when someone responded to him? Oh, this should be good.

"I said leave and don't bother us," Hitoshi repeated himself. The order made the blond growl again, but then his eyes turned vacant like he stopped thinking. Standing straight, he turned around and walked straight out of the cafeteria. The onlookers blinked at the sudden defusing of the situation, wondering what had happened.

"That was cool," Joseph chuckled.

"Totally!" Mei giggled just the same. "You've gotta explain how you did that!"

"Well…" Hitoshi smiled lightly, feeling some pride in himself, and relief in what appeared to be his new friends.

* * *

Katsuki Bakugo was many things, a thug was what most who met him would say. If they saw his Quirk, more would say he had a bright future as a Pro Hero. His victims in the past would often call him arrogant, a blowhard, a bully, and quite a few number of negative names which would often not be off the mark.

Not that Katsuki cared, considering anyone who said such thing just extras or pebbles on his road to the top.

Right now, he was stewing on the fellow new student, the self-proclaimed Quirkless would-be hero, Kamen Rider Build.

Many would have thought, considering how Katsuki seemed to have an increasing target on the Kamen Rider, that he was prejudiced against the Quirkless. Anyone who knew him in his middle school days and his history with Izuku Midoriya would probably agree if they weren't too busy praising him for his Quirk. Anyone who really knew him though could attest that Katsuki was definitely not prejudiced. His parents did raise him better than that, despite his temper, and if his mother caught him spouting that attitude, she would have reamed him up one side and down the other.

No, despite his temper, Katsuki's real issue stemmed from one which was one that he had since his Quirk appeared, namely his titanic pride and his confidence and complete arrogance in his Quirk taking him to the top.

Ever since he got his Quirk, a big and flashy one which people loved to see in the Pro Heroes, he was praised and elevated by everyone around him as a Pro Hero in the making. Since his home district was pretty mundane, as were the schools filled with people with weak Quirks, a lot of people rallied around something to give them some hometown pride. Even his teachers did the same, seeing a chance to elevate their own status if a Pro Hero came from their schools. With Katsuki's excellent grades, partially due to his mother cracking the whip on him to study hard, everyone who wanted to ride his coattails or have their name connected to his came out of the woodwork.

It of course gave Katsuki and astoundingly large sense of entitlement. So large, he felt like he was the center of his own heroic origins story and everyone else was just an extra or an obstacle in his way. When his former best friend turned up Quirkless, Katsuki just mocked him for it. An extra who was too lame to even be an extra, in his view. A pebble on his road to the top. The weak were just extras and they stayed that way, Quirkless being the most obvious of all. Almost all authority figures in his life covering for him just reinforced that mindset.

Why Build was pissing off Katsuki so much was because he was a major point of contention, pointing out a major weakness in Katsuki's worldview. In the blonde's world, he was destined to be the best, his quirk was one of the most badass, and everyone else could just be a stepping stone or an extra. Everything in his personality and mindset was really built up on the pride and arrogance he developed for his Quirk. In short, his Quirk identified him in a lot of cases. If no one had a Quirk like him, then there was no way they'd be as great as Katsuki Bakugo would be.

And then Build was proving otherwise.

Build didn't have a Quirk, so he _should _have been moved to the sidelines, just another extra. Instead, he took on two, _two_, villains and smashed them both with loud explosions. Katsuki knew since he saw the alerts on Facespace. Katsuki admitted that it was kind of cool, although not as cool as he was!

Build had become kind of a minor internet celebrity after it was revealed that he was both a vigilante and had been able to meet All Might. Everyone wanted to know what became of him, but then were shocked he showed up at U.A. of all places.

That would have been fine, but Katsuki got pissed when it was revealed, by Build himself, that he had no Quirk! A Quirkless person couldn't become a hero! A Quirkless person shouldn't have been able to get into U.A. A Quirkless person couldn't fight off and beat villains!

But Build did it...and Katsuki couldn't understand in his narrow worldview how that could happen.

Then when Katsuki got confused, he got pissed. When he got pissed, he decided he had to punch something.

The problem was, how could Katsuki pick a fight with Build without getting into trouble for using his Quirk without the teachers' approval? The guy didn't look like he was part of the Hero Course.

* * *

After the normal classes which took place in the morning, the real heroic courses were done afterwards. Power Loader returned to the classroom and began explaining their first construction project before he let the students have the floor and talk amongst themselves.

"So we'll be making these hero suit designs?" Joseph asked, looking to the sheet of paper which students were supposed to list the parts of the costumes as well as draw a picture of what it was supposed to roughly look like.

"Hmm, seems so," Mei frowned, tapping a pencil on her sheet. "And just how am I supposed to fit so many of my babies that I might need in such a confined space like a costume?"

"Maybe make it modular. Have the equipment you have disassemble to be plugged into parts of your actual suit for different functions or something," Joseph suggested. "That way you have a wider arsenal and plenty of tools, but need less overall tech."

Mei nodded with a grin, "There's an idea! You're getting to be just as creative as me, JJ-kun!"

"I picked up a thing or two from you," Joseph shrugged, still staring down at his paper. "Just not sure if I even need a costume. It sort of comes with my armor."

"Speaking of," the wire-haired boy spoke up again, leaning over perhaps to try and pick some tips for his own suit. "If your armor is your costume, think you can show it to us here?"

"What?" Joseph looked up, blinking in surprise.

"Yeah!" called another student. "Come on, we have to see your tech in person!"

"Totally!" agreed a third.

"Come on guys, here? In the middle of the classroom?" Joseph sighed. He wasn't really in the mood to show off and since he got updated on Quirk laws and the like, he was always worried about just transforming in public unless he had to.

It didn't seem like Bakugo's earlier outburst in the cafeteria had affected his classmates. Either they had not heard him calling Joseph Quirkless or they simply did not care. With all of the noise going around, it may have been the former, but Joseph hoped for the latter.

"It's fine," Power Loader spoke up, drawing the attention from the class. "One thing about getting inspiration for gear and costumes is to see what came before. Besides, it seems like everyone's still excited about your internet fame so help them get it out of their systems."

Power Loader also had his own intentions for seeing Joseph's tech in action. As a gearhead himself, he was always curious about what kind of tech new heroes and supporters were able to bring out. The notes he got from Nezu about Nebula Gas and Build's armor made him seriously want to see the armor in action himself. What better place than in the middle of his own classroom where he'd have an excuse to examine it.

Josep sighed, but took solace that the teacher was giving him permission, "Okay, fine. Let's just make some space on the floor and open some windows. My Nebula Gas might be purified, but I don't want to risk it messing with your Quirks."

Joseph was pretty sure that the class had planned the exhibition since they moved the desks out of the way too fast to be random. Power Loader, and a few students, and picked up sensing equipment or just used their phone cameras to watch the impending show.

Joseph strapped on the Build Driver and took out two Fullbottles which he shook before sliding them into the slots on his belt.

**"Rabbit! ****Comic!"**

**"Are You Ready?"**

"Henshin!"

The Halfbodies snapped together, forming his suit. As soon as it formed, his HUD gave him the specs for the suit and info on what each Halfbody could do.

"Looks like Comic gives me the power to materialize whatever I draw," Build said to himself as he studied the pen-shaped Realise Painter on his left arm.

"Ooooooh!" the majority of the students admired, clicking off pictures on their phones or taking readings from whatever devices they pulled out. Even Power Loader had devices out to check the readings.

"Behold! The power of the Nebula Gas-powered Build armor!" Mei grinned, moving to display Build in his suit. She began a number of technical jargon as several students took notes.

'_Well, I suppose I can get used to this,_' Build thought to himself as Mei made the presentation, explaining what each Fullbottle in their collection did.

* * *

It was late at night in the city but there appeared to be an assembly taking place in the warehouse district.

Inside a warehouse, many people congregated from all walks of life. While they may seem different from each other, they had one thing in common: they were all Quirkless.

They had all received an e-mail telling them to come to this place. It convinced them that they could somehow change their fate by coming. Though not all who received the e-mail came, ignoring it as they believed it to be a scam, there were enough people who were desperate enough to believe anything.

"Welcome, all of you," Blood Stalk said as he revealed himself. He showed up in his red armored suit. "Since you're all here, that means you got my message. Now, let me get to the point: in this world, men were not created equal and that's unfair for you all, isn't it? And all because of Quirks. All those people who were born with a fancy ability, they look down upon you because you don't have Quirks. They all call you useless, worthless, and treat you like outcasts and trash, isn't that right? And perhaps some of you got disowned by your own families because they could not take the shame of being parents to a Quirkless waste of space."

Blood Stalk looked at the crowd and smiled. He knew he had their attention.

"But the world doesn't have to be that way, ladies and gentlemen. After all, before Quirks, it was people without Quirks who changed the world, who made discoveries, who created amazing things. While that day is long gone, that doesn't mean it has to be gone for good. So, what I am offering you is an _equalizer_."

Blood Stalk popped open a briefcase that was filled with multiple Smash Bottles. He picked one up and showed it to the people.

"If you've seen the news, you've seen that 'villain' that appeared, the one beaten by the vigilante Kamen Rider Build. Well, that guy got power from this tiny bottle and you can too. Oh, and don't worry about payment. All of you will get these bottles for free. But, if you're still not convinced then how about a demonstration? Any volunteers?"

The Quirkless audience looked to one another, some being somewhat more confident than others. Finally, a nerdy-looking individual, literally so plain he exemplified the stereotype of a Quirkless, timidly stepped forward and reach for one of the bottles. He hesitated, but Blood Stalk was perfectly patient and sounded even kind.

"It's alright. It's perfectly safe," he reassured the man.

Seemingly emboldened by the kind words, the man took a bottle.

"Now what?" the man asked.

"Just pop the bottle open and pour its contents over yourself," Blood Stalk instructed.

The man frowned slightly, but followed the instructions. Lifting the bottle, he poured the stardust-like contents and gas over himself. It was only for a moment before it seemed to sink into his skin. It was only for a moment before numerous needle-like spikes suddenly rose from his skin, moving as he flexed his arms in shock.

"I...It...wha…?" the man gasped in shock.

"See? The Nebula Gas works just as I promised," Blood Stalk explained. "It has awakened the dormant Quirk inside of you."

"I have a Quirk?"

"Indeed! All this nonsense about being Quirkless, it's just stupid idiotic ignorance! They say only 80 percent of humanity has Quirks! The truth is that 20 percent of you have dormant Quirks that just need to be awakened!" Blood Stalk proclaimed. "With my Nebula Gas, you can now activate those Quirks and step out of the shadow that society pushed you all into!"

"I have a Quirk," the man looked at his needles in awe and he cheered loudly, raising his arms, "I HAVE A QUIRK!"

"Now," Blood Stalk looked at the crowd he knew was eating out of his hands. "Who's next?"

It became a chorus of cries as the numerous people swarmed Blood Stalk's case, grasping for the Fullbottles. Nebula Gas began to fly as people began crying, cheering, or letting off whoops of joy as their bodies began showing new traits such as gold plating, extending arms, transforming to stone, all the range of Quirks they knew about in their lives, but thought forever denied to them.

"And the meek shall inherit the earth," Blood Stalk chuckled. "Just so long as they remember to endure the next step towards it."

* * *

**Next Day...**

Taro Fubuki hated his life. Ever since he learned he was Quirkless, his life had been terrible. His parents neglected him and at school he was an outcast without any friends. At best, he was ignored. At worst, he was a target for bullies.

And today it was the same thing all over again as his bullies dragged him to the rooftop like always for their daily dose of fun. The school never did anything as the teachers favored the students with Quirks. Plus, these students' parents were people who had a lot of influence and money.

"OK, loser," one of the bullies, Kaito sneered. "Fork over your money and we'll leave you alone."

Normally, Taro would give them his money so they would leave him alone. However, this time, he decided that enough was enough.

Kaito's Quirk was that he could electrocute people that he could touch. It was not all that flashy but it still hurt. His pal Kuma's Quirk was that he was as strong as a bear and he even had bear-like ears atop his head. He also had dark circles around his eyes that made him look like a panda or a racoon.

"No," Taro said defiantly.

Kaito blinked, unused to such a response.

"Say that again," Kaito growled.

"I said no, Kaito," Taro repeated.

"Alright, guess I'll have to teach you a lesson," Kaito said as he grabbed Taro's arms to give him a shock and a reminder. But then Taro punched him in the face. Kaito staggered, surprised. Then he growled. "Kuma!"

Kuma cracked his knuckles and then Taro smirked as he showed them what he could do. The first thing was that his skin turned grey as it hardened into rock. Then, his body started to gain muscle as he bulged, nearly ripping up his uniform in the process.

Kato gasped and Kuma gawked as the Quirkless outcast of their school suddenly showed that he had a Quirk. Even the witnesses who hung back to watch the shakedown couldn't help but openly gape as the 'natural victim' suddenly wasn't. But Kaito had a reputation to maintain and sent Kuma to attack.

Kuma was as strong as a bear, but even a bear was not strong enough to break rock. He broke his fist against Taro's chest and Taro responded by smacking Kuma in the face. This knocked the bear-like boy out. Taro then turned his gaze toward Kaito who shivered. He turned to run but Taro grabbed him by the back of his uniform and dragged him to him.

Taro lifted Kaito up by the lapels of his uniform, his face set in a stony scowl, "Never again."

It was a common statement among many of the Quirkless who found the inspiration, and proof, that they weren't going to be the downtrodden anymore.

* * *

**Hatsume Residence**

"Hey, Mei. Have you seen the news?" Joseph asked as he came down to the lab to see his friend. "Mei? Mei!"

Whenever Mei was focused on her inventions, she tuned out everything else. At the moment, she had her welding torch on, spraying sparks as her goggles protected her sensitive eyes whilst her Quirk let her make quick and precise welds. At Joseph's louder call, she turned the tool off to look in his direction.

"Oh, sorry JJ-kun. I've just been busy," Mei said as she lifted up her goggles. "What is it?"

"There's reports of previously Quirkless individuals displaying powers," Joseph answered as he showed her the newspaper report. It was not a tabloid rag either, but a major publication. The front page even had a title of 'QUIRKLESS NO MORE?' emblazoned on it.

"Wow? Really?" Mei blinked. She approached the paper, showing a scuffed up boy a little younger than they were, holding up his arm, made of stone, with a teary smile of pride on his face. "'Taro Fubuki, age 13, discovered to his great joy that his Quirk suddenly activated as a pair of students attempted to extort money from him. After being told he was Quirkless for years, he and his parents are overjoyed to see he has overcome his disability. It is a trend...which has been growing all over the city in only a short time'." Taro was not the only one. In fact, there were many others who had discovered their Quirks after many years of being told they were Quirkless.

"Mei, is it possible for Quirks to just remain dormant until something causes them to go active?" Joseph asked. He had read Marvel and DC comics in his world and they showed how people could gain powers in numerous ways. Natural birth was a big one, but all sorts of things could happen to grant them their superpowers. Spider bites, gamma radiation, cosmic radiation, dark matter exposure, the list went on.

"Hmm," Mei tapped her chin. "Well, usually everyone develops a Quirk by a certain age. If they don't, they are considered Quirkless. Dormancy though, well, I don't think I've heard of that. But I'm not a biologist. Everyone just knows Quirks show up by a certain age. But it is weird for several people to suddenly discover their Quirks at the same time."

"Like they were all exposed to something which suddenly made them activate them," Joseph frowned. He eyed the paper, feeling a bit torn seeing the happy kid on the front, "I...I told you that, in small amounts, Nebula Gas can give enhanced abilities, right?"

Mei blinked, but then looked to the paper, "And we know someone's been pushing the gas since all those Smash showed up…"

"Someone's distributing Nebula Gas to give people Quirks," Joseph concluded.

"Isn't that a good thing, though?" Mei asked, now looking troubled. "He looks so happy in this picture."

Joseph looked at the picture. Taro did look happy. However, he couldn't help but feel as if the boy had made a Faustian contract of some kind to gain his Quirk. There was always a price to pay for power.

"What if it's only temporary? What if he has to keep taking it to keep his new 'Quirk'? What might whoever's giving it to him ask for in return?"

Mei pondered the questions and the answers she came up with were not good.

* * *

**Bakugo Residence**

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?"

* * *

**Midoriya Residence**

Inko Midoriya broke out into loud sobs as she heard the news which was shocking the nation. The people who were born Quirkless, like her son Izuku, were somehow activating Quirks thought denied to them. Inko, having forever felt like it was her fault her son didn't have a Quirk and almost lost his dream, just felt like it was a miracle for so many like it had been for her son.

She was going to leave such a huge offering next time she visited a shrine!

* * *

**?**

Blood stalk chuckled as he watched the news while experts argued about what was happening.

"First one's free. Want better, then be ready to pay."

**To Be Continued...**

A/N:And here's chapter 3 you all remember. Changed Hitoshi's class assignment since I thought 1-C was part of General Studies at the time. Thanks for pointing out the mistake guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**My Kamen Rider Academia**

News of the Quirkless suddenly gaining Quirks did indeed spread through the city like wildfire. Many people were wondering what was going on, if it was just some kind of misdiagnosis spree or if there was something else happening. Scientists were all over the issue, trying to begin studies of how it happened. Some people were demanding that better Quirk testing be developed if so many people missed having their Quirks discovered. Many specialists were even developing theories of people suppressing their own Quirks when they believed they didn't have one. Others just felt it was a fraud and moved on with their lives.

Only Joseph and Mei had a better idea of what was possibly happening.

"So, what do we do now, JJ-kun?" asked Mei as the pair were walking from their bus stop towards UA.

"Well, it's hard to say," Joseph frowned, looking to the newspaper article of yet another Quirkless person suddenly gaining a Quirk. Sadly, this one was not so positive as he went on a rampage against his tormentors and got arrested. Legal drama was already rising over the case.

"I doubt these people are going to just spill how they got Nebula Gas if it's how they got their Quirks," Joseph spoke. "So asking them how they got it isn't going to work. Not unless they get into real trouble and are willing to spill details to help themselves."

"But...wouldn't the police have already asked them about that?" asked Mei. "I mean, Nebula Gas would have to show up in their bodies if they get tested."

"If the police even think to look for it," Joseph shook his head. "Only a few would even know about Nebula Gas and those guys were the ones involved when All-Might picked me up and Principal Nezu interviewed me."

"And we don't have much proof," Mei frowned. "And the only chance we have is if a Smash shows up and we can bring it down so the person inside could tell us something."

"But a common side effect of Smash transmutation is memory loss," Joseph sighed, packing the paper into his bookbag. "Whoever doing this is sharp. They only spread the gas to the desperate and Quirkless so they don't blab. Then if they overdose and become a Smash, they likely won't even remember in the first place."

"If only we could get some kind of lead," Mei muttered.

"Hey, Hitoshi!" Joseph called out to their purple-haired friend.

"Joseph-san and Hatsume-san," Hitoshi greeted. "Good morning."

Hitoshi had learned how many points Joseph had gotten in the practical exam. He could have gotten in the Hero Course but was instead selected to join the Support Course instead. Hitoshi merely noted it in how the exams favored those with flashy and heroic appearing Quirks. Joseph had no Quirk, but his tech

"So, have you heard the crazy news?" Joseph asked.

"You mean the whole thing about Quirks awakening in formerly Quirkless people? Hard not to. A lot of my classmates have been talking about it."

"We think the one's behind the Smash is the cause," Hatsume blabbed.

"That's your theory?" Hitoshi asked.

"We know people can be made into Smash when exposed to Nebula Gas, so maybe they can give people Quirks in small doses. I mean, Quirks can be passed on genetically, right? It's right there in their DNA, so the Nebula Gas is waking it up," Joseph explained. "And the only thing that's changed in the city lately is the Smash."

"...I see," Hitoshi nodded. "I can see the connection. Although not a lot of people may see the same thing. You two know the most about this gas. Your only chance to get proof is have one of those people confess and considering how wild they're getting, I don't think they will."

"Yeah, we were just mentioning that," Joseph sighed. "It's a self-defeating circle. The happy folks won't tell or else lose their new Quirks. People who take too much and become a Smash will forget it all so we're kind of stuck."

"You know, if you want to investigate this, maybe start with how this person is able to find his clients. Maybe he looked up their medical records or looked up the Quirk registry," Hitoshi suggested.

Everyone had to register their Quirk, even the Quirkless needed to be registered to keep track on them. Sadly, they weren't nearly as diligent about someone who was Quirkless as many slipped through the cracks as the authorities believed Joseph had done. It was a bias that polite society denounced, but accepted all the same. Everyone was expected to stand out with a Quirk and those who couldn't were often ignored.

"Maybe," Joseph nodded. "But that information is private, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but a villain won't care for that," Hitoshi nodded. "It would be the only way someone could find out who was Quirkless so fast."

"Meh, anyone could hack those," Mei scoffed. "I could do it just to give us some clues!"

"Let's...not," Joseph quickly shut her down.

They went to their respective home rooms, although Joseph wasn't paying close attention to what was going on around him. Everything seemed normal, Quirks aside, but Joseph just had this shadow hanging over him, knowing that Nebula Gas was likely being abused out in the city while he sat in class.

Why couldn't U.A. allow their students to do supervised hero work? It worked just fine that way in Kamen Rider Fourze.

In the middle of his dark thoughts Power Loader entered. He gave his greetings and the class returned them as expected. Once the formalities were out of the way, He brought his paperwork to the podium.

"Before we begin, Josuke-kun, the principal wants to see you."

Joseph snapped to attention, "H-huh?"

"You heard me. Principal Nezu wants to see you right now," Power Loader answered, gesturing to the door. "Get moving. He seemed serious for a change."

* * *

**Prinicipal's Office**

Nezu's office seemed completely ordinary. It had a functional desk, some pictures, and the normal paperwork which crossed such offices. The only thing out of place was Nezu himself. The dog/mouse/bear principal looked almost comical behind it as he seemed to small for it.

"H, thank you for coming Josuke-kun," Nezu nodded, moving some paperwork aside. "Well, I won't leave you in suspense for what I wanted to talk to you about. I assume you heard about the wave of Quirkless people gaining Quirks?"

"It's all over the news," Joseph nodded, seated in front of the desk.

"Then I think we can both guess what may be the cause," Nezu nodded. "One of the things you told us about Nebula Gas was it's ability to impart special abilities to people who absorb it in small doses."

"So you think someone's peddling it too," Joseph frowned slightly.

"We do," Nezu nodded. "I also recall you telling me that those who overdose are transformed into those Smash creatures which give off the stuff which can negatively affect people with Quirks."

"I did," Joseph nodded. "The fact we haven't seen one yet means either no one's overdosed yet or when they do, whoever is peddling the gas manages to get them out."

"True, but we believe it is the latter," Nezu nodded, moving to another report on his desk. "Several people have been reported as missing. All of them were Quirkless and some believe they have gotten a high or hurt themselves with their new Quirks. Finding them has been difficult."

Joseph grimaced, "So, why do you need me?"

"Unfortunately, despite having documentation of the Nebula Gas and several officers confirming its existence, many more higher ups consider it all just a plot to some fantasy story," Nezu scowled softly. "Even with my influence, so many of them scoff at the idea of some unknown gas causing such things."

"W-what?" Joseph gaped. "B-but, we live in a world where nearly everyone has a superpower! How can they just turn it aside?"

"Namely because most in power like to keep a status quo," Nezu shook his head. "Such people have very rigid views and even with the wonders of this day and age, they don't like change and anything unexpected is not tolerated, disbelieved, or explained away."

Joseph rolled his eyes. He knew the types. Once they got authority, they seemed to suddenly know everything and expected the world to follow their expectations. Plenty of his father's superiors acted that way, hating anything which would make them look bad or prove them wrong even in small amounts. Not all of them were like that of course, but the ones that were tended to raise more of a fuss when they were trying to make the world follow their rules rather than reality. Sadly, they had the pull to make at least their underlings follow that status quo. Enough of them keep their minds closed and block out their ears, it made for some nasty surprises when something unexpected did happen.

"So, what do you need me for?" asked Joseph. "I can't exactly go out and try to hunt Smash. I'd get nailed for being a vigilante again."

"What I would request from you is a presentation on not only that Nebula Gas is real, but also it's effects," Nezu explained. "I understand it is what powers your armor, so showing its effectiveness in your tech will prove it's a real substance. Then I'll back it up with footage of you fighting those other two Smash. Together, we can at least get an investigation going, perhaps more if my contacts are able to help."

Joseph paled slightly, "Um...oh boy…"

* * *

Ryuken Bokusa was a young man who should have felt like he was living the teenage dream. He was a popular athlete in his old middle school, he was chosen to attend U.A., he was reasonably good-looking, had a bright career in boxing or heroics, whichever he wanted, and he even had a Quirk which was just perfect for either career.

Well, he **had** a Quirk.

Looking at him, no one would have suspected that Ryuken was Quirkless. He was confident, athletic, had dark hair with orange streaks in it and red reptillian eyes thanks to his Quirk. His arms were fit for a boxer and had long dragon-like designs wrapped around them.

Or they used to be. Now they were just pale patches of skin compared to his normal skin tone.

Ryuken's Quirk was called _Dragon Fist_, which allowed him to produce a fire-like energy from his fists that gave off small explosions when he hit something. He even learned how to use it as a projectile, launching streams of serpentine energy which helped him come up with the name of his Quirk. His boxing training and confidence allowed him to really push his Quirk to his limit and make a shot for U.A.

His written scores were okay, but the only reason he didn't do better in the practical was because of some hothead with exploding hands leaping all over the place and taking the most points.

Regardless, Ryuken was able to get into U.A. and he felt his road to his dreams was secure.

Then came that freak in the mask and suit calling himself All for One.

One touch, just one, as he cornered Ryuken with some thugs, and Ryuken felt his Quirk vanish. The dragon marks on his arms disappeared and the fire was snuffed out. Worse, All for One just flicked him and blasted him with the same fire the young boxer once wielded so confidently.

The villain just left with a laugh, wishing Ryuken the best of luck in U.A.

Ryuken's world shattered at that point. He was about to begin U.A. in only a week and he had no Quirk. He knew that in order to even stay in the Hero Course and graduate to become a Hero he needed a Quirk. Without one, all of his dreams were all gone and he would have nothing left.

He honestly contemplated suicide for a time, trying to hide what happened to him. Not even his parents knew what happened. He just didn't want anyone to know what had happened, how something so close to him, a part of his being, had been stolen from him. Without his Quirk, what was he?

At his darkest time, a surprising ally appeared.

"_Just call me Blood Stalk. I'm here to return what was taken from you._"

The strange armored man passed Ryuken something called a FullBottle filled with Nebula Gas. All Ryuken had to do was bathe himself in a portion of the gas and his Quirk suddenly flared back to life. His natural tattoos returned, and he could feel the fire in his veins once again. It was like his dreams and world were coming back into color again.

"_The first one's free. Use it too much and you'll have to buy a replacement. Consider yourself my first experiment though so expect some rough patches._"

Ryuken greedily took the Fullbottle, using enough amounts to get his Quirk back for any testing he would need to use it for. So long as he kept the doses small, he would be able to keep himself from either overdosing or emptying the tiny thing, risking serious cash to try and buy a new one.

At the current moment of time, Ryuken was enjoying a spare period in his schedule. A time of self-study since their teacher was out on a hero assignment or something. Normally they would have a substitute, but since it was an academic class, everyone just decided to read over their notes or read ahead. Ryuken used the opportunity to go to the roof and get some privacy.

"Huuuh, this is getting to me," he sighed deeply. Looking to his hand, he spied the purple bottle-like object which was quickly becoming his key to keeping up with his dreams. The stress of basically faking his Quirk was heavy on his shoulders and he was worried about what may happen if there was some medical test. Something as miraculous as the Nebula Gas surely couldn't stay a secret for very long.

Heaving another sigh, Ryuken stuffed his FullBottle back into his pocket before setting his phone to a short time before his class would end. Once he had some extra nap time, he'd feel a little more relaxed.

Using his bookbag as a pillow, he lay back and shut his eyes for some relaxation…

*CREAK*

Only for the door to open, signalling that he had company. Sighing, Ryuken sat up, looking to see who had arrived.

The person who came seemed like he was perfectly ordinary. Black hair, a U.A. uniform, average height and build. Likely he was someone from the General Studies courses since anyone from the specialty courses like Heroics and Support usually had a visible Quirk.

"Hey," the student waved with a somewhat dopey smile. "Was hoping I would catch you."

"Yeah?" Ryuken asked with a frown. Something really didn't feel right about his fellow student. "You need something?"

"Sure do," the kid smiled. "I need your Fullbottle."

Ryuken blinked, but inside his heart suddenly stopped, "Uh...wh-what are you talking about?"

"Your Fullbottle. The one that lets you stay in that Heroics course," the student's grin widened slightly. "I know you have one. I saw you at Blood Stalk's little show. I've got one too." He even proved it by lifting up a white Fullbottle.

"Good for you. So why do you need two?" asked Ryuken, moving to stand up. He really was getting bad vibes from the kid and it was setting off all kinds of internal alarms.

"I wanna get into the Heroics course, but so far my Quirk isn't cutting it," the student answered, starting to stroll towards the boxing athlete. "And It's just _so_ expensive to try and ask Blood Stalk for another. So I figured why not take one from another customer?"

"How about you try someone else?" Ryuken frowned, clenching his fists.

"Oh no. I'm not missing this chance," the student's grin turned to a sneer. "Especially when they're in one of those snobby Heroics courses!" He lifted his Fullbottle and opened the object's cap. With a laugh, he turned the bottle over his head, letting the white/gray gas fall over his body.

He laughed for a moment, lifting his hands as the light in them began to refract, becoming the seven colors of the rainbow, "Like it? My Quirk let's me split light into different beams of energy! Each one has a different effect!"

"Crap! Are you nuts?!" Ryuken cried out. "If the teachers catch us then we'll both get busted!"

"Not if I take you down fast enough!" the student laughed, pouring more Nebula Gas on himself.

Ryuken prepared to go for his own Fullbottle, if only to defend himself, but the student's laugh turned to a choked grunt. Stopping his action, Ryuken watched as the the student sputtered, but then screamed before the gas seemed to cover his body, solidifying and forming some kind of metal. From the waist down he was covered in metal panels, making him appear like a machine. The top half appeared to be covered in glass-like polygons, ending the arms in large, pointed fists. The head was a prism, light being refracted from the edges.

"Wh-wha-what?!" Ryuken gaped, shocked at the transformation.

The strange student had been transformed into the Prism Smash.

"Ororororooooooo!" the Prism Smash roared before it unleashed seven beams of rainbow energy.

* * *

***BOOM!***

Joseph blinked as the vibration rippled with the sound in the air before it hit him that there had been an explosion. Several of the other students looked up, confused about what had just happened. Whispers came from the other students wondered if someone from the Heroics course used their Quirk for something. The student called Bakugo who had the explosive hands was known for a hair-trigger temper and for showing off just about every chance he could get like he already was a famous hero.

"Okay, okay everyone. Calm down," Power Loader tried to calm his students. "You know explosions aren't unusual around here so-!"

"_ATTENTION STUDENTS._" a voice came over the P.A. system. "_SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BREACHED. PLEASE EVACUATE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BREACHED!_"

"Oh crap…" Power Loader grimaced.

And all hell broke loose.

"What's going on!?"

"Did a villain break into the school!?"

"RUN!"

Power Loader tried to keep the students calm, but the panic of the students who never were threatened by a villain before escalated. It caused a panic and the student began to scream and begin running for the exits. Joseph and Mei's class weren't the only one as many classes began to panic and start running for the exits and evacuation points. Power Loader attempted to yell and keep people calm, but the panic had already set in and no one was listening, even to a celebrated Pro Hero.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Joseph cried as he and Mei were pushed through the halls from the mob of students desperately trying to get to the exits.

The two were shoved outside as other students burst out, screams and cries abound, running for the main gates to try and get out. Once there was more space, Joseph pushed himself to the sidelines, gripping Mei's hand as they broke free from the mon running like chickens with their heads cut off.

"Jeez! I thought we were learning to be heroes," Joseph tried to catch his breath.

"Well, U.A. is supposed to be safe," Mei panted. She looked up to the panicking mob. "Although I thought we'd have more courage than this."

Their words were cut off as several beams of colored energy shot through the air from the roof of U.A. The screams just began to get worse as the students now saw that there really was a villain inside the school.

"Oh crap," Joseph grimaced. "Any idea who that villain might be?"

"On sec!" Mei replied. She activated her Quirk and her vision zoomed to rooftop to try and see if she could spot someone. It would be unlikely, but if they got to the edge, she'd be able to see it easily.

What she got was a burst of grey gas which she easily recognized as Nebula Gas.

"It's Nebula Gas!"

Joseph's gaze darted to Mei, slightly pale, "What? You sure!?"

Mei nodded, her gaze riveted to the rooftop. "Positive! That could mean-"

"A Smash got in!" Joseph grimaced. According to the rules, he should have left the Smash to the teachers who were also Pro Heroes. However, with the Smash already pumping out impure Nebula Gas, likely none of them could even get close. Sure, some may have long-range techniques, but who knew if the Smash could launch the gas to get them. Even if they could subdue the Smash, they wouldn't be able to change them back.

"Mei, you wearing your rocket boots?" asked Joseph.

"Always!" Mei grinned. She wrapped her arms around Joseph's waist. "Hold on! Rocket Boot babies, go!"

A blast came from Mei's boots, metal contraptions which she always wore instead of her normal shoes. The sound made the students shriek and stumble back, already in a panic. The pair took to the air, aiming for the school rooftop. The g-force made Joseph wince, but he forced himself to endure it before they got to the rooftop.

"Bombs away!" Mei declared as they came over the rooftop. She abruptly let Joseph go, letting him fall to the rooftop where he landed.

"Ow," he grunted, ignoring the pain in his feet. Looking around, he quickly spied the Smash. One which looked like a bunch of polygons put together with a glass pyramid head. It was stalking towards another U.A. student who looked a little scorched.

"Crap!" Joseph hissed, rising to his feet. Reaching into his jacket, he grabbed his BuildDriver and strapped it to his waist before grabbing his FullBottles.

"**Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!**"

"**Are You Ready?**"

"Henshin!"

"**Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!**"

The halfbodies came together, transforming Joseph to Build in a blast of purified Nebula Gas. Next to him, Mei came to a stop on her rocket boots. Build didn't waste time as he charged for the Smash.

"HAH!" he roared, lashing out with his rabbit foot. The attack collided with the Smash in a ripple of red, launching the kaijin way and over the railing of the school. Running to the side, he saw the monster crash to the ground, but was already attempting to stand.

"Never that easy," he muttered. He glanced to Mei and the unknown student. "Mei, get him out of here! I'll handle the Smash!"

"Right!" Mei saluted with a grin.

Nodding, Build leaped over the edge of the building. He fell, but landed with a crouch. The ground cracked under his feet, but he didn't suffer any damage from the jump. The Smash was grunting, managing to get back up to its feet. With a roar, it thrust it's arms out, firing beams of rainbow energy at the Kamen RIder.

"Hup!" Build called, jumping out of the way from the beams, using the rabbit foot to jump, or the tank foot to sidestep the attacks. The smash was clumsy, more of a brute than anything. It made Build think that it hadn't been a Smash for very long, likely someone who recently overdosed on Nebula Gas.

The question was, how did the Smash get inside U.A.?

"Hey, I found the emergency exit!"

Build's blood chilled as he glanced over his shoulder. To his dismay, a cluster of students were emerging from a side entrance to the school. They consisted of the typical stock of students A green-haired kid, a girl with a permanent blush, the exploding asshole, some straight-backed guy with glasses, and a few others.

"Crap," Build muttered. "Get back, now! He's giving off toxic fumes!"

The students came to a stop, stunned into stillness at the sight of Build and the Smash. The green-haired kid seemed ready to fall into a panic attack, among a few others.

"Everyone, back inside!" shouted Build. "It's not safe!"

The young man with the glasses, sputtered, but quickly took charge, "E-everyone! Back inside!"

"Oh no way!" the explosive blonde grinned. He clenched his hands and charged forward, a mad grin on his face. His hands sparked as he dashed for the Prism Smash, preparing to blow it up.

"No! You idiot!" Build shouted. He tried to grab the blonde, but he ignited an explosion, knocking Build back and launching himself at the Smash.

The Prism Smash was of course not intimidated. Instead, it let off a growl before it began spewing out the gray Nebula Gas. The blonde didn't stop, flying into the gas with a mad grin. He attempted to keep going, but found himself coughing with just a single breath before he tried slapping the Smash with his explosive sweat.

Only nothing happened.

"H-Huh?" he gasped.

"RAAHH!" the Prism Smash roared before blasting the hothead with a beam of rainbow energy. He was launched back out of the cloud, skidding across the ground before landing in a groaning heap.

"Kacchan!" the green-haired student cried, he and several students running the hothead's side.

"Idiot!" Build huffed before he summoned his Drill Crusher. "Okay, can't play the long game. Hard and fast!"

Build charged for the Smash as it fired more prismatic beams at him. Between his two Halfbodies, he managed to dodge, getting grazed on his shoulders or torso. Still, he managed to get in close to the Prism Smash and began swinging.

Sparks flew from each impact, making the Smash stumble. It shrieked and wildly shot more beams of energy but couldn't aim very well. Clearly he was hurting it, but the material which made up the majority of its body was taking the damage well. Maybe it wasn't just made of metal and glass?

"Better go with something that can smash it hard," Build murmured. He had no other Best Matches but he could make do with what he had.

"**Gorilla! ****Comic!**"

"**Are You Ready?**"

"Build Up!" At the command, the two new Halfbodies merged over his suit, giving him the brown and yellow portions of his armor. It also armored him with the Muscle Glove and 4Kouma Ninpoutou.

"Regardless of the factors, the laws of victory are still set!" Build declared and charged for the snarling Smash.

* * *

**Izuku POV**

Izuku Midoriya would have been honest if he said that he never would have expected to be in this situation so soon after joining U.A. Frankly, he was amazed that he was even in U.A. in the first place. It was generally believed to be one of the most secure facilities so a random villain just managing to sneak inside seemed like such ridiculous notion...but then it happened.

On the plus side, he was getting to see a hero-like battle going on which was always cool!

Like many his age, Izuku did have a Facespace page. He often dedicated his to hero analysis and sightings. Naturally he had heard about the new vigilante who was recruited by none other than All Might himself. Izuku even heard it from the man himself during his training to possess _All For One._ The Symbol of Peace even approved of Build's enthusiasm and initiative, although the rules were in place for a reason. If All Might himself was backing the vigilante turned student, then Izuku figured he had to have a cool Quirk.

Imagine Izuku's utter shock when he discovered that Build in fact had no Quirk and all and relied on his gear to do hero work. It was frankly inspiring, seeing someone who had no Quirk like Izuku used to be and had gone on to join U.A. on his own merits.

Wait, he was getting distracted from the fight!

One skill Izuku was confident in before his fateful meeting with All Might was his observational skills when it came to heroes and villains in action. It was so good, he could determine Quirk traits, possible limitations, and even strategies with only a small amount of watching them work. He may have been able to pass that off as a Quirk if he thought of it, but Izuku really was too honest for his own good. That and Bakugo announced his Quirklessness to their class anyway.

Bakugo was growling, getting up from the blow he took, but coughing a lot thanks to the gas he inhaled. Still, Izuku was keeping his attention on the fight, both out of his normal desire to see the battle go, but also just because he was frankly terrified of making himself a target if he ran.

"Amazing, he can swap out different pieces of armor to give himself different Quirk-like abilities," Izuku muttered, transfixed by the fight. "The red side enhanced his kicking strength and speed while the blue one balanced those with durability and striking power. Now he's got enhanced punching strength on the right side and…"

He was cut off by the villain roaring and shooting more of the prismatic beams of energy. Build reacted fast, swiping his yellow leg across the ground, leaving a trail of black ink while he used the tip of his sword to make a large square. The entire image solidified into a wall which blocked the beams of energy.

"He can draw things into existence?!" Izuku gasped. Oh how he wished he had his notebook with him so he could get this all down!

"Deku-kun! Let's go! We can't hang around here! We're going to get in his way!" Uraraka Ochako, the first girl and friend who was a girl Izuku had, cried as she pulled at his arm.

Izuku snapped from his mumbling, "R-right!"

As the class of 1-A pulled back into the building, dragging a cursing and coughing Bakugo as they went, none of them really went far. Everyone stayed inside the door so they could watch the fight between former vigilante and villain.

* * *

"HAH!" Build roared, swinging his sword and bashing the prism beams out of the air in showers of sparks. So far he was doing well against the Prism Smash, but it seemed to have gotten a strategy of keeping him away. Every time he tried to get close, it shot more beams at him, forcing him to back off to keep from getting hit.

"Need to disrupt it's concentration!" Build huffed. Fortunately, his Comic Halfbody had the perfect loadout for that.

Gripping his sword, Build deflected a few more beams before he began drawing with the tip of the weapon. He didn't have much skill with drawing admittedly, but with the enhancements of the armor and what he had in mind, he didn't need them. Quickly, he drew several large rocks into the air, roughly the size of large dogs.

Before gravity could take hold as the stones became real, Build lashed out with his Muscle Glove, punching each one. The force sent each stone flying straight for the Prism Smash. It fired more beams of energy, but the rocks were just so dense that it served no purpose. The stones smashed into it with blasts of sparks, making it shriek in pain.

*THUD!*

"SHREEEYYAAAAAA!"

And one even landed on its foot, pinning it into place.

"Convenient," Build nodded. Seeing his chance, he slipped the Muscle Glove onto his Crank Lever and began to spin it. "Now, the laws of victory are set!"

"**Ready? Go!**"

Build's BLD Manga Kaku Shoulder shifted and book bindings erupted from it, wrapping around the Smash and pressing together, making it look much like a weird book spine. Build dropped his sword and then charged, his Quick Draw Shoe making platforms of ink which he climbed up several steps before leaping off, rearing back his Muscle Glove as it began to glow.

"SEIYAAAAAA!" He roared, smashing into the Smash's face with his empowered weapon.

"**Vortex Attack! Yeah!**"

The Smash let off a shriek of pain before exploding in a haze of green fire. The rock was destroyed along with the bindings, sending it sprawling across the ground before landing in a heap. Build emerged from the flames, looking unscathed from being caught in an explosion. He swiftly reached to his side, finding an empty FullBottle before aiming it at the downed Prism Smash. Its form quickly dissolved, filling the FullBottle with it's Nebula Gas, giving it the web pattern and a light blue core on the inside.

"Smash essence captured," Build concluded.

"He just made that guy explode!" an excitable female voice shouted from behind. Build turned and saw a girl with pink skin, horns, and pink hair grinning wildly.

"So manly!" a spiky-haired redhead boy grinned madly next to her.

"Ah, thanks," Build bashfully nodded. He turned to see where the Smash had dissolved, but was shocked to find another U.A. student laying on the ground, groaning in pain. "...what? No, wait." he looked to the other students, "Someone help me get this guy to the nurse's office! He's been overdosed on Nebula Gas! Now!"

"Right!" a pretty girl with a ponytail snapped into action. She ran to the student's side and...began unbuttoning her blouse?! Build was about to yell in shock, but when she exposed enough of her collar, her skin flashed red before a collapsable folding stretcher appeared.

"We can carry him on this," the girl calmly explained, buttoning up again. She quickly unfolded the stretcher, showing it was sturdy and very real. "Help me get him on."

Build nodded, removing his FullBottles so his hands would be free from the Muscle Glove. He quickly moved to help the girl, gently moving the semi-conscious student onto the stretched.

"I'll alert the nurse's office and any teachers I see along the way!" the glasses-wearing student called, suddenly bolting from the scene, literally, with engine pipes sticking out of his legs.

"Sato-san, Kirishima-san, you two help carry this boy up!" the ponytail girl continued.

"Right!" two boys nodded, one of them being the redhead, and both obviously muscled. They took the ends of the stretcher before they headed off for the doorway.

"We should also alert the teachers to what happened," the girl continued. "Unless that villain wasn't the only one, I think the crisis was averted."

"I can hope," Joseph sighed, rotating his arm. Hm, it seemed he still felt a little recoil from using a finisher with his Gorilla Halfbody. Did it need more calibrating or did it needs its Best Match?

* * *

The aftermath was a bit of a mess for everyone. The students were chided as a whole by the faculty for panicking as badly as they did. Granted a villain did get into the school and they were in the right to head for the available exits. What wasn't permitted was the harsh ways students all but attacked each other to get out first and the damage some students caused, one having blown out a window to make his escape.

Joseph himself was chastised for taking matters into his own hands and fighting the Smash instead of finding the teachers to deal with the threat. That was half-hearted though, as they approved his initiative and racing to protect his fellow students. He wasn't exactly punished for his actions, but he got a stern-talking to which was supposed to double for punishment.

It did introduce him to the students of 1-A, the supposed best students in the Heroics course. They were a bunch of nice people, for the most part, and they thought Joseph was just awesome for being a cool vigilante and for taking on a villain. Many asked him questions about how his weapons worked, or what Quirk he had. Of course, they actually thought it was awesome he was able to kick but when he had no Quirk at all.

The results weren't all good though. Ever since All Might was revealed to being a teacher at the school, numerous news reporters were hanging outside the front gates trying to get interviews. They in fact heard the alarms going off and then the later explosion from the Prism Smash being defeated. Immediately they felt like they had something to write about, mostly being questions about what U.A. was up to and what All Might had to do with it. It stirred up some concern as people feared a villain really had snuck onto campus.

Principal Nezu had to hold a press conference for that where some hard questions were asked. With some sly talk, he admitted that a Quirkless student had gone wild with a sudden Quirk he gained, using the current events to explain the situation. He did not reveal that student's identity since he was a minor.

The student himself naturally had no idea of the events surrounding his getting his FullBottle. In fact, he barely had memories of his time since he got it. It was just fuzzy blips and ingrained habitual things. Naturally there was no memory of all about his time as a Smash or where he got the FullBottle from. Seeing the hazard it was though, it did give Nezu more pull in convincing people in power that something was afoot and Nebula Gas was not just a story.

* * *

**Unknown Location**

"Hm, interesting," Blood Stalk murmured as he looked at the news report. It told the story of how a Quirkless went wild within U.A. It sparked up some debate as to how the Quirkless were gaining Quirks. Even more amusing, it was highlighting the prejudice the Quirkless faced and how it was driving them to be thugs or wild now that they had the power to get back at their tormentors.

"Still, which one was it?" Blood Stalk wondered. He had several clients who were in U.A. Quirkless students who wanted to be heroes, but didn't have the power. Seeing one of their fellows being turned into a Smash may have shaken some of them.

Perhaps he should visit his clients and 'subtly' remind them to keep quiet about the source of their new Quirks. Lest they lose them.

* * *

Despite the crisis that took place, classes still resumed as normal until the final bell rang. Perhaps it was like a fire drill. After it was done, the students just went back to class.

Joseph stepped out of school with Mei who was grinning as she examined the fresh Smash Bottle Joseph had filled. She was using her Quirk to examine every inch, trying to gleam what kind of FullBottle it might create.

"I can't wait to find out what kind of FullBottle this baby will make!" she cheered, her eyes shining. "With how tough that Smash was, it must be a strong one! You might get another Best Match too!"

"Yeah," Joseph agreed, already having an idea what kind of FullBottle the Prism Smash's essence would create.

"Excuse me!"

Joseph turned when he heard himself being called. He saw it was a green-haired students with freckles on his face.

"Hey," Joseph waved. "Uh, Izuku Midoriya, right?"

"Yes! You're Build-san, right?" the young man asked, looking a little excited.

"That's me," Joseph nodded. "So what can I help you with?"

"Is it true that you're Quirkless? " Izuku asked a little bluntly. "I-I mean I understand if you d-don't want to say it, b-but…"

"Oh, it's no problem," Joseph shrugged. "Yeah, I'm Quirkless. I admit I got lucky by finding my gear, but once I had it, I knew I had to use to to be a hero. Mei-chan helps me learn how to maintain it." He gestured to Mei who preened proudly at the praise to her skills. "It's why I call her my Best Match Mechanic."

"And you're my Build Up Boyfriend!" Mei laughed.

"Anyway, so I'm Quirkless. It's not the end of the world for me, right? There's always a way for me to contribute somehow."

"You're lucky then. Not a lot of Quirkless can be so optimistic," Izuku smiled, slightly weakly and almost in sad remembrance.

"Yeah, but good friends and support made the world of difference," Joseph nodded. "So, anyway, is there any other questions you want to ask?"

"Oh right!" Izuku nodded. He ruffled through his pack and brought out a notebook, "I was hoping you could explain the abilities your armor gives you? I noticed each half gave you a new Quirk-like ability. What else can they do? Do you have more? How many do you have?"

"Ooooh!" Mei grinned, taking a glance at the pages by leaning over Izuku's shoulder. Incidentally, it pressed her chest against his shoulder slightly, making Izuku flinch and blush. "You're a fellow number cruncher! So cool! Look at all the data JJ-kun!"

"That's a pretty thorough analysis," Joseph admired. "You've got some talent here, Midoriya."

"Well, it's always been my dream to be a hero so I kinda get obsessed with learning about them and Quirks," Izuku admitted.

"Say, you want to grab a bite to eat?" Joseph offered. "We can talk about my gear over some burgers."

"A-Ah, okay!" Izuku nodded rapidly. "C-Could I bring a friend?"

"Sure! We can all share facts and ideas! I always love to get ideas for new babies," Mei smiled.

Izuku blanched "B-babies?!"

"Mei-chan loves her inventions so much, she calls them her babies," Joseph quickly answered. "Success or fail, they're all her beloved babies."

"O-oh," Izuku nodded with some relief. "Just let me check with Uraraka-san." He quickly pulled out his phone.

Joseph just smiled. Maybe he made a new friend.

* * *

'Uraraka-san' was actually Ochako Uraraka, a brunette girl who was rather kind and had a permanent blush on her cheeks. She was really chipper and nice, excited to meet up with one of the heroes of the day. She and Mei hit it off, talking shop about the effects of gravity and physics. Uraraka was surprisingly competent. She had to be, considering her Quirk allowed her to nullify gravity on things.

Their time at the joint was fun, discussing their various Quirks and abilities. Mei bragged about her inventions, offering to make some which could help the pair's Quirks in combat. Joseph explained his FullBottles and the Nebula Gas, along with what effects it had with his suit. Izuku just wrote in his notebook furiously, apparently having fun offering ideas for combinations or what might better aid the Halfbodies if he didn't or couldn't use a Best Match.

Although Ochako wanted to be a hero not just to help people, but also for money, she did have good reasons for it. Her parents supported her a lot even when they didn't have the best funds for it. They had hit hard times with the family construction company and Uraraka just wanted to earn a hero's salary so she could take care of her parents like they did her.

It wasn't a bad reason. After all, being a Pro-Hero was supposed to be a career so they would earn a paycheck for all the work they had done.

"So, your whole life you were considered Quirkless until your Quirk just activated one day?" Joseph asked Izuku.

"Y-yeah," Izuku stuttered. "It stores energy inside until I can release it. Since no one caught it since I didn't have the toe joint, I just had a mental block. Then when it broke, I could make explosive punches since I have so much stored up."

"Better late than never," Joseph said. "Must've been hell for you, huh? Kids can be cruel."

"Y-yeah," Izuku slumped slightly.

"But hey, you got into the Hero Course. You should be proud of that."

Izuku blushed at the praise.

"Say, Josuke-san," Izuku said. "I heard that you took the practical exam. So how come you're in the Support Course?"

"Well, I applied for both Heroics and Support as a backup," Joseph explained. "I asked Principal Nezu as well, but it's mainly because I don't have a Quirk."

"What?" Ochako gasped. "B-but that's not fair!"

Joseph shook his head, "No, no, it's not prejudice. You see, I rely heavily on my tech and weapons to do any hero work. That means in order to be a hero, I have to keep my gear in top shape and even develop new gear if I need it. So for that, I need to get some time in the Support Course."

Izuku nodded, "Oh, I get it. So, you start in the Support Course and get the training to build and maintain your gear and then advance to the Hero course later?"

"That's what Principal Nezu told me," Joseph nodded. "I'll have to work my butt off to get that transfer, but if I want to be the kind of hero I want to be, I'll need to do it. I need to represent and show people that even without a Quirk, we can be heroes."

"Yeah!" Izuku smiled and Ochako gave a happy nod.

* * *

Ryuken went back to the place where he had met Blood Stalk before, clutching the FullBottle in his hand. It was the old warehouse where Blood Stalk made his first meeting. Coming back, Ryuken felt it was creepy, knowing that someone peddling monster-making gas was hanging around.

"Hey, Stalk! Stalk! Are you here?"

It was quiet, like nobody was around, until footsteps echoed. Ryuken gulped as Blood Stalk stepped out of the shadows. His visor and chest plate were glowing, giving the appearance of a snake coming out of hiding to strike.

"Buongiorno~!" Blood Stalk greeted with a jaunty wave. "So, did you come to top up on your FullBottle?"

"Look, thanks for helping me get my Quirk back, but a kid in my school OD'd and turned into a monster. If that's gonna happen to me then I don't want this thing anymore," Ryuken said, holding out his FullBottle.

"Oh?" Blood Stalk tilted his head. "Well, that's a shame. I didn't peg you as being one to back down at the misfortune of another."

"Someone hurting themselves because they were stupid is one thing," Ryuken shook his head. "But...but that...that...THING...he turned into? I don't want that! He was downright addicted! You said this stuff was safe!"

"All medicines are safe unless you overdose on them or get a high from it," Blood Stalk shrugged. "But if you're set on this, I guess I can take it back." He took the purple FullBottle from Ryuken's hands. "I sincerely hope you change your mind though."

"Not likely," Ryuken shook his head. "But I can keep a secret. I know you have multiple Quirks to hunt me down if I spill."

"So I do," Blood Stalk nodded. Feeling safer, Ryuken turned and left. As he did, Blood Stalk lifted his Transteam Gun. Removing his own Cobra FullBottle, he inserted the purple one and aimed at Ryuken's back. "But I don't leave loose ends for long."

"**FullBottle! Steam Attack!**"

Blood Stalk shot Ryuken with the FullBottle's complete contents as the Nebula Gas engulfed the boy. He screamed after he accidentally inhaled the gas which began to mutate him.

Flames and metal soon engulfed him.

"I think we'll have to cut this threat to the profits," Blood Stalk pondered as he watched Ryuken transform into a Smash. "Need to test Build and his little friends anyway."

* * *

After their burgers were done, the group realized how much time they spent just talking and having fun. Well past 5:00, they all decided to get back home. Paying for the meals, the four new friends started walking down the street, perhaps wanting to chat a little more before they decided to part ways to their respective homes.

"So, you really have a machine which can turn that gas you got from that Smash thing and make it into something your armor can use?" asked Ochako.

"Yup," Mei nodded. "Joseph and I tested our baby together extensively! I can't wait to see what kind of FullBottle we can get out of it!"

"My guess is something to do with light, glass, crystals, or triangles since the Smash was a prism-type," Joseph offered. "So likely it'll be abiotic, but that still leaves plenty of possible results."

"So exciting!" Mei giggled. "I can't wait to begin making our FullBottle baby!" Mei's words made Ochako and Izuku blush at the innuendo in her words. Joseph was long since used to it and Mei likely didn't get it.

The group continued until they reached an intersection. Izuku sighed and looked to his friends, "This is where I turn off. I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"I turn this way too," Ochako nodded, pointing to another street. "It was really nice meeting you two! We should totally hang out again!"

"Sure! I'll bring some of my babies for you two to test!" Mei nodded.

"Just make sure you tested them to not explode first," Joseph chuckled. "Anyway, We'll see you guys tomorrow."

"_Oh, but I just got here._"

"**Cobra! Mistmatch!**"

A hissing sound caused the four students to turn as a cloud of dark smoke began filling the street. In the middle of it were flashes of red, showing a humanoid figure inside. One which was changing as layers of armor began to appear on its body.

"**Co-Cobra...Cobra...Fire!**"

Fireworks went off inside the mist, dispelling the smoke. Emerging from it was the red and gray armored figure of Blood Stalk. His visor and chest plate glowed in the fading sunlight. Gripped in his hand was his Transteam Gun, spinning on his finger like some kind of gunfighter.

"Buongiorno~!" He waved almost flamboyantly.

"B-Blood Stalk?!" Joseph gasped.

"Ah, so you know me. Good. Rivals should know of each other," Blood Stalk nodded, stopping several feet away from the four students.

"Rivals?" asked Izuku. "Josuke-san, do you know who this guy is?"

"By reputation," Joseph grimaced. "Someone who spreads the Nebula Gas. I thought he was just a prop in the fake story I found my equipment with."

"Heh, the best stories have grains of truth in them," Blood Stalk chuckled. "Since you've been so insistent on meddling with my business, I decided to pay you a personal visit to see if we can't bury the hatchet. Live and let live, so to speak."

"You're turning innocent people into Smash and sending them out to cause rampages!" Joseph accused angrily.

"Hardly," Blood Stalk scoffed. "All of those people came to me once I offered the chance to end the pain of being Quirkless. After all, only those who never had power can truly appreciate it, rather than so many of the arrogant and selfish who run the world these days. We all know that the meek shall inherit the earth. I'm just speeding up the process."

"And the Smash?" Joseph frowned, slowly reaching for his Build Driver.

"Oh, I keep them out of harm's way," Blood Stalk shrugged. He gave a sharp whistle from within his helmet. Behind him, tainted Nebula Gas began to spell from two side streets as a pair of humanoid figures came out from the shadows.

The first was a Smash, sporting the same legs as the others. It's body seemed entirely composed of mechanical chain links for industrial machinery formed into a body. The head was featureless save for two glowing eyes.

The second Smash had an orange and red body with orbs on the shoulders and head with black holes in them. It's left arm was simply and arm, but the other sported a flamethrower tip. It was proven to be as such when sparks came from the tip, igniting into a constant flame.

Joseph recognized both as the Press and Scorch Smash.

"See? I keep them close and unable to cause the public harm," Blood Stalk chuckled. He looked to his two Smash before lifting his gun and shooting several rounds at the feet of the four students, making them jump back. "Now, how about you hand over your FullBottles?"

"I say no way," Joseph frowned, taking out his BuildDriver and strapping it to his waist.

"What was that for?!" Ochako cried out. "You didn't have to shoot at us!"

"I attacked you. Self-defense is now established," Blood Stalk replied. "Now you have an excuse to go all out when my Smash attack you for not giving me Build's FullBottles. Press! Scorch! Sic'em!"

The two Smash roared and ran at the four, arms raised to fight.

"Move!" Joseph shouted, producing his FullBottles with a shake before plugging them into his Driver.

"**Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!**"

"**Are You Ready?**"

"Henshin!"

"**Hagane no Moonsault! RabbiTank! Yeah!**"

A blast of purified Nebula Gas announced his completed transformation. Summoning the Drill Crusher, Build ran at the two oncoming Smash with no fear.

"Josuke-san, wait!" Izuku gasped, but was ignored.

Build came in at the Smash and summoned his Drill Crusher before slashing wide, catching the Press Smash in the chest. It stumbled back, but not before the Scorch Smash let off a trail of flame, forcing the Kamen Rider back or get burned. His armor may have blocked physical damage, but high temperatures went right though.

The Press Smash was not so vulnerable running through the flames before crashing into Build with all the force of a charging elephant. Build cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, landing on his back. He groaned, but it was drowned out by the roar of the Press Smash as it ran to crush him.

"SMASH!"

All of a sudden, a huge wave of pure force crashed into the Press Smash and sending it sailing backwards before it landed in a heap. The Scorch Smash was caught on the edge, making it stumble and it's flames going out. Even Blood Stalk had to brace himself to keep from being knocked over from the sudden assault.

"What?" Build blinked. Sitting up, he turned to look at where the force had come from. To his surprise, he saw Izuku with his right hand extended as if he made a flick. He was panting, clearly in pain. The reason why was because his pinky had turned a dark brown/red and did not look healthy.

"H-holy-!" Build gasped. Did Izuku lay out two Smash by just flicking his pinky? What did he do to it? His finger looked broken now!

"Oh, how interesting," Blood Stalk murmured. "Yes, yes, I recognize you now. You're Izuku Midoriya. I had you on my customer list before you suddenly popped up as having a Quirk."

"Well I d-do!" Izuku grimaced, keeping firm despite his hand trembling in pain. "You saw what it did so back off!"

Blood Stalk chuckled, "Well, I don't think so. I can see your hand from here. You broke your pinkie doing that attack. Seems to me that you can only do that attack nine more times."

Izuku grimaced, "Maybe, but I only need to get lucky once! You need to get lucky nine more times!"

Blood Stack chuckled again, "Touche. Still, I rather like my odds. Plus, I have meat shields. Smash, attack!"

The two Smash recovered and roared, charging for the two aspiring heroes again. Build got to his feet and gripped his weapon. Izuku grimaced, but prepared his index finger for another flick.

The battle was soon joined as the two sides clashed with showers of sparks and the sounds of clanging metal. The Scorch Smash would created walls of fire to try and keep Build back while the Press Smash would charge through to clobber him. Inversely, Build would handle the Smash up close while Izuku would launch another blast of force to knock them both down and make them vulnerable for attack.

Sadly, it was a battle of attrition the boys were going to lose. The Smash had Nebula Gas coursing through their bodies, keeping them from staying down too long. Soon Izuku had used all the fingers on his right hand and the pain was getting to him. Build was also panting for breath, being pushed further than any other Smash had done.

"This isn't good," Ochako murmured from where she and Mei were keeping back from the action. "Deku-kun and Josuke-san aren't going to last much longer if this keeps up."

"Then it's a good time to test my new baby!" Mei dropped her backpack and fished out what looked like a miniature oven with electronic bits built into it.

"Um...Mei-san...what is that?" asked Ochako.

"Oh, it's my Portable FullBottle Purifier baby!" Mei grinned. "With this, we can purify Smash Bottles and have them made into FullBottles in the field in case of emergencies!"

"Have you tested it?" Ochako asked worriedly.

"...of course I have," Mei continued to set up her machine.

"You hesitated!" the gravity-manipulator gasped.

"Okay! Setup complete!" Mei nodded as the modified oven came to life despite never having been plugged in. She rifled around in her pack and found the Smash Bottle. Slipping it in, she closed the machine and began punching buttons. "And here we goooooo!"

*WHRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!*

The machine started to glow as a kaleidoscope of lights began coming out of the lines in the machine. Ochako watched with worry while Mei had her excited smile. After a moment, the lights began to turn red and the machine began to shake and rumble. Soon, it began to swell and contract as if it was about to bulge beyond the limits.

"It's going to blow!" Ochako cried, jumping behind a group of trash cans.

"Uh-oh," Mei blinked before…

***BOOM!***

The machine did explode and rather violently in a rainbow of lights and colorful smoke. As it cleared, Mei had her face covered in soot. A small black circle surrounded with scrap was where her machine had been a moment ago. In the middle of it all though was a FullBottle which was light blue and had the image of a diamond in it.

"Ooh! Success!" Mei grinned, so proud of her baby for succeeding even if it did blow up. Taking the device, she ran to where Izuku and Build were fighting off the two Smash under Blood Stalk's amused view.

"JJ-kun, catch!" Mei shouted, throwing the FullBottle to her friend.

Build turned and saw the FullBottle incoming. He snapped it out of the air and looked at its surface. "Tough one huh? Maybe..." Ducking under a swipe from the Press Smash, he kicked it away with the Rabbit Foot before he removed both FullBottles and took out his two more recent ones. A quick shake and he slipped them into his Driver.

"**Gorilla! Diamond! Best Match!**"

"Best Match? Awww yeah!" Build grinned.

"Whooo!" Mei cheered.

"Best Match?" Izuku and Ochako blinked, but then began to grin as it hit them.

"B-Best Match?!" Blood Stalk gasped. "Of all the luck!"

Build quickly began spinning the Crank Lever, letting the Snap Ride Builder form. The familiar Gorilla Halfbody formed, but also a light blue version appeared.

"**Are You Ready?**"

"Build up!"

The two sides snapped together, making Build's new suit shine. The new Halfbody was light blue, almost sparkling. The left arm had a diamond-studded armguard and more diamonds were embedded in part of the chest. On his left shoulder was a large diamond-shaped piece of armor, the top portion sparkling. The right side of the head shared the color scheme with the eyepiece being shaped like a diamond and the antennae being beams of light coming from the diamond itself.

"**Kagayaki no Destroyer! GorillaMond! Yeah!**"

This was Kamen Rider Build GorillaMond, the "Sparkling Destroyer".

"With this Best Match, the laws of victory are set!" Build declared. "Oi, Midoriya, Uraraka! Let's take these Smash down!" Since they were in the Heroics Course, they should have some skills.

"Right!" the two steeled themselves, moving into the fray once again.

The two Smash just roared and charged once again. Build stepped forward to block them. The Press Smash punched at Build, but it's fist stopped in a blast of sparks. Build did not do much more than flinch. Between the muscle of the Gorilla Halfbody and the sheer density of the Diamond Halfbody, his defensive power went through the roof.

Build reared back his fist and landed a mighty punch into the Smash's face, making it stumble back with a cry of pain. The Scorch Smash stepped in, launching a stream of fire. The flames licked at his armor, but it only made his armor appear more dazzling with the diamond effects and high resistance.

"HYAH!" Build walked through the flames, punching the Smash's weapon, crushing it with a blast of flames and heat, making it scream and pull back to escape.

"Incoming!" Ochako called, seeing her chance. She dashed past Izuku and Build, coming up to the two Smash. Reaching out, she tapped them both with the pads of her fingers, making a pink flash of light. Suddenly, gravity seemed to stop working as both Smash began to float in the air with grunts of confusion.

The two Smash were stranded in the air, floating helplessly thanks to Ochako's Quirk, although the girl was starting to look pale thanks to the nausea it was causing. "Okay, they're all yours Build-kun!"

"Thanks, Uraraka! Now, it's time to finish this!"

Build turned his BuildDriver's crank as he powered up his finisher.

"**Ready Go!"**

He formed a large diamond shield in front of himself and then positioned it at an angle while winding up his large gauntlet-covered fist.

"**Vortex Finish! Yeah!"**

He punched the diamond shield and it shattered, sending shards flying at high speeds like flechettes. The diamond shards pelted the two Smash violently before they both exploded in twin fireballs of green. Ochako then touched her fingers together, causing both Smash to fall in smoking heaps. Their groans of pain indicated their defeat.

"Now, time to capture their essence," said Build as he fished out a couple of empty bottles.

"On it!" Mei snatched them out of his hand and then pointed them at the two defeated Smash. Their essence was gathered and sucked up into the two bottles, which bulged up with spiderweb patterns on them. "Smash essence captured!"

"Bravo! Bravo!" Blood Stalk applauded. He didn't seem the least bothered by the defeat of his two kaijin minions. "Looks like this year's batch of Heroic Course students are pretty talented!"

"You're the one giving people Quirks!" Izuku yelled. "Why?"

"I just want to shake up the status quo because, well, the way the world is right now is kinda boring, right? I mean, it should be more entertaining! All the world's a stage and the stage is the world for entertainment!"

"That's not a reason!" Izuku snapped.

"Oh, then how's about this for a reason?" Blood Stalk spoke darkly. "I want to see this whole world burn." His tone then turned chipper again. "Anyway, Izuku Midoriya, you better have those fingers checked out. Ciao~!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Build charged at Blood Stalk as he covered himself in a steam cloud and hit nothing as he passed through it. "Dammit, he got away!" He removed the two FullBottles from his Driver, reverting to civilian form.

"Uraraka-san, are you alright?" Izuku asked his classmate as she was on her knees, exhausted.

"Just...just the adrenaline rush...fading..." Ochako panted. "That...that was my first fight against villains."

They heard sirens, cutting their conversation. Someone must've saw what happened and called the police. It made sense, considering that the roars of the Smash and the explosions were far from hidden. Plenty of people probably called the police to deal with it.

"Should we run?" asked Mei, pondering the situation.

"No, we have people who need medical attention," Joseph sighed, gesturing to Izuku's hand and the two former Smash. Besides, cameras at the intersections probably caught us heading in this direction, if not caught the fight so the police would quickly find us."

"T-true," Izuku grimaced in pain, looking at his hand. "And heroes don't need to run from the police. We didn't do anything wrong."

"Mnn!" Ochako nodded.

"But we might get in trouble for fighting villains and using our Quirks in public," Mei pointed out. "We could get expelled from U.A." This made the color drain from Izuku and Ochaco's faces.

"I'm sure they'll just give us a slap on the wrist since it's just self-defence," Joseph said reassuringly.

* * *

The police did arrive and as a matter of course, called paramedics and detained the four teenagers until they could get the facts straight. Although there were cameras nearby, it was standard procedure even if several of the cops didn't believe that the four were responsible for the chaos.

Ambulances came to pick up the two people who had been turned into Smash. Treatment was also given to Izuku's mangled fingers. A hero named Recovery Girl was sent a request to speed up the process, although Izuku was sent to the hospital while the others were moved to the police station.

They all gave their testimony, which was fortunately backed up by the public CCTV cameras at intersections. It caught the entire fight. The police still (gently) chastised the group for fighting and not calling for the police, but they seemed to understand that it was a case of self-defense and there wasn't much choice. Unofficially, they were congratulated for rescuing the two former Smash and driving away the true villain.

They grilled harder for details about Blood Stalk. The police didn't believe for a second that a rash of missing people and Quirkless getting Quirks were unrelated. The former Press Smash had been missing for days with a family worried sick about him. The four had to give every detail, every identifying feature, and any other possible goals that Blood Stalk may have had to help Pro Heroes find him and bring him down.

So finally the four students were released with another gentle admonishment and secret praise. Joseph was also lucky that the cops had not asked for his Smash Bottles since they were possible evidence.

Incidentally, someone reported a pile of diamonds falling from the sky onto their property.

* * *

**Bakugo Residence**

"DIEEEEEE!" Bakugo screamed as he destroyed his punching bag with an explosive punch.

The punching bag was destroyed, spilling sand and leather in all directions. With a huff, Bakugo walked to his training gear and took a big gulp of water. Putting it down, he scowled and punched the wall. Not enough to break the drywall. His mother reamed him out hard the last time he did that and he didn't need to suffer through that again.

Bakugo was in a foul mood. The reason why was the incident at the school that day. Right there in front of him was a villain who snuck into the school and was causing trouble. Most would have run, but Bakugo was a fighter and instead he charged forward to put the villain down in a single blow.

Or that's what the script to Bakugo's life had said anyway.

Instead, there was a cloud of weird gas which shut down _Explosion_ and let him get pummeled by the freak. With just one punch! It left the irate blonde coughing and wheezing with absolutely no Quirk to fight back.

It made him feel weak and Bakugo _despised_ that feeling.

Worse, he had to watch the Quirkless cheat Build take the freak down after making a big and stupid show with his armor. How much of a cheat was that?! The loser didn't even have a real Quirk he learned to master and instead could just pick and choose which Quirk he'd need to win the fight!

"DAMMIT!" Bakugo roared, working himself up into a fury again. He stomped over to a side closet where he pulled out another punching bag and quickly got to work pummeling it.

'_That does it! The first chance I get, I'm going to put you in your place, Tinker Toy!_' he thought furiously to himself.

* * *

**U.A., Nezu's Office**

Mei, Joseph, Izuku and Ochaco were called the next day to Principal Nezu's office. Normally the students may have been more nervous, but All-Might was also there, giving a sense of security to all of them. Both wanted to know about Blood Stalk and what his motives may have been.

"He said he wanted to change the world and then..." Izuku hesitated with what Blood Stalk had said next. "Watch the world burn."

"**Hm, quite a dark goal in mind,**" All-Might rubbed his chin. "**I can see how he could accomplish some chaos with his methods.**"

"Indeed. Many people ignore or look down on the Quirkless," Nezu nodded with a frown. "When they suddenly get a Quirk, many will seek revenge for their discrimination."

"Is there a way to track him down? He should have some kind of a hideout or a lair, right?" Izuku asked.

"Midoriya, Stalk wears a full suit that conceals his identity," Joseph said. "He could be hiding in plain sight. He could be the janitor and we wouldn't know it was him."

"**Indeed. Cautious villains like that are some of the most difficult opponents to defeat,**" All-Might nodded. "**Still, I must commend you all on your bravery and skill to overcome his unfortunate minions.**"

His compliment made the four students beam with pride. It wasn't every day where All-Might himself praised you for your abilities! Izuku was practically glowing in delight compared to the rest, considering how much of a fanboy for All-Might he was.

"How are the victims doing?" Joseph asked.

"Recovering," Nezu nodded. "One was a man who went missing a time ago. The other was another of our students. Sadly it seems he was using this to keep in the Heroics Course."

All-Might's grip tightened angrily although he kept his facade up. The young man, Ryuken, explained his circumstances when pressed. It seems he did have a Quirk until a certain individual stole it from him. The Symbol of Peace could guess all too well who that individual was. Usually _that man_ was much more subtle in his theft of Quirks, but All-Might could easily guess that it was a small jab at him and a notice that he had survived their last battle as well.

It seemed he would have one last loose end to tie up before the embers of his Quirk vanished and young Midoriya would have to truly set on his path.

* * *

Blood Stalk hummed softly to himself as he refilled some FullBottles from his...source. He wasn't frustrated by the setback of facing Build and his little friends. Just the opposite. Blood Stalk expected his rival to be exceptional. It just made the challenge worth it.

Finishing another bottle, he stopped as he felt a presence nearby. Grabbing his Transteam Gun, he turned to aim it. At the far end of his base was a black void. Emerging from it came a skinny man with pale skin and decorative hands on his outfit, including one which was shielding his face. Next to him was someone in a bartender outfit who appeared to be made of a black void with only two yellow eyes as a sign of facial features.

"A little rude to just barge into a man's lair, don't you think?" Blood Stalk sighed.

"Got your attention," the skinny hand man wheezed. "Still, we're here for business, not trouble."

"I'm all about business," Blood Stalk nodded.

"Good," the hand man nodded. "So, have you heard about the League of Villains?"

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: **And now the new chapter of the newest story. We some more action asBlood Stalk starts making more overt moves and now seemed to be poised to join the League of Villains. How this might change USJ, one can't be sure.


End file.
